


The Doctor's Child

by ATLenya



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Torchwood
Genre: (at least at first), F/M, Gen, M/M, Parent!11th, The rest of the crew is just in for another ride of weird, This was my FANOWRIMO challenge once upon a time, as usual, baby!OMC, but it's my baby, not anymore lol
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-11-29
Updated: 2012-11-29
Packaged: 2017-11-19 19:48:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 17
Words: 24,779
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/576988
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ATLenya/pseuds/ATLenya
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>DW timeline starts at "The Doctor's Wife" with the 11th and HP is pre-books.<br/>T.A.R.D.I.S. knows her time with real human interaction is coming to an end and when the Doctor frees her in the control room, she does the one thing that she knows will break his heart and start to mend it little by little. She sends a spark of life full of DNA information from the Doctor and her host, as well as her own energy into that little blue ball that her Thief loves so much, to find the vessel the most adequate to nestle this new life. What she doesn't know, for all her power, is that the transfer breaks the mind of an already fragile woman with deadly weapons. <br/>Bellatrix Lestrange loses what is left of her mind and just a shy 3 months of term, she's sent to Azkaban for torture and intent of murder. A little miracle born in a place of eternal sorrow. Bellatrix can't take care of a baby and hide him form dementors and guards, she knows that, so she sends a prayer through time and space and a certain bow-tie wearing Time-Lord answers it. But what happens when the child of a Time Lord and a T.A.R.D.I.S. is born in Azkaban of all places?. — starts at The Doctor's Wife .</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: Doctor Who, Torchwood, Harry Potter and any other crossing characters belong to their respective owner. This is a purely non-lucrative hobby and shall remain as such.
> 
> Fandom: Doctor WhoxHarry PotterxTorchwood in big timey wimey… thing…
> 
> Rating: General rating M, Chapter rating T for T.A.R.D.I.S. crazy and tears

The T.A.R.D.I.S. felt her energy leave slowly the vessel named Idris and couldn't help feeling a figurative pang in the chest. Everything had all happened so quickly, she'd rediscovered her Thief and felt his warmth against her in ways she'd never had before and it was all so confusing and amazing and sad. She knew her Thief well and even if she would always be there, this level of sentience could never be achieved again, after she dealt with the House and gone back into her proper place. And she knew that her Doctor would feel sad and cheated, and guilty and some many wonderful and sad emotions proper to those like him and his two companions, emotions she didn't know, couldn't know before and now would never experience again.

But as the energy was leaving her carnal host, as she felt less and less like these sentient beings she'd always welcomed into herself and more and more like the dozing presence she'd always been and always would be, she made a decision.

She knew that this was a decision that could rock the foundations of Time and Space and everything in between. She knew that this could be the decision that would make or break her little Thief, her Doctor. But she was a T.A.R.D.I.S. type 40, the last of her kind, a Mad Man's Blue Box and she always knew what her Mad Man needed. And right there and then, he needed warmth, family, companionship, life, LOVE. Love unlike that of her Thief's Little Singing Creek, love of family, love of life.

Processing with but a thought and a wish as she outwardly continued to let her energy retrieve control of herself, she gleaned the information and the data she needed, a couple of strands from the Doctor's DNA, a couple of strands from her dying vessel, a spark of Huonic energy from her own heart and a boost of power to send it all into that small blue ball of a planet that her Thief loved so much, in search of a viable vessel to recoup the x chromosome and create the most beautiful, amazing, terrifying spark. A new life.


	2. 1. The Suitable Host

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellatrix is hiding something from everyone. Even in prison.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> M+ for the gore of birthing and Azkaban's effect on people's psyche.

Bellatrix didn't exactly remember how she got pregnant. Not that she did not remember the act that lead to being pregnant, because whatever fault she could find to her husband, he still demanded marital rights nearly every night and being a good little pureblood wife, there was nothing that she wouldn't do for him, even if she sometimes fantasized of tearing his bits off with a rusty spoon. No, she knew how it came that she was pregnant, but she didn't know how it came that she was pregnant. For all she knew, she was unable to bear children since that misplaced Reductor curse she took to the stomach. But apparently, some deity thought it best to grant her this boon, and one day, just like that, she woke up and knew with absolute certainty that she was indeed pregnant, and most probably with a boy.

And for a reason that escaped her, she tried everything to prevent anyone from knowing her plight. She wore local notice-me-not charms around her belly so no one would realize that it was slowly but surely inflating as the months passed by. And soon enough, after the weird cravings and the morning nauseas, she just sort of forgot about it all, way too ensconced in her efforts to please her beloved Dark One.

If you'd asked anyone around Bellatrix Lestrange, during those few months before the Aurors finally got to her husband, brother-in-law and her, the woman has seemed to fall more and more into insanity. A number of times, a junior Death Eater or another member of the Inner Circle would catch her cackling madly or speaking to thin air and she became wilder and more savage as the raids and the attacks went by. But only a certain Mad Man in a Blue Box, far away, could have explained that her descent into madness was a result of her magic fighting itself and her instincts as it tried to decide whether to eliminate the presence within her or register it as survival of the species.

Soon, 7 months had passed since she realized a foetus was growing in her womb, she'd successfully hidden her little mystery from everyone. Maybe a bit too well, as her beloved Lord was not one to go easy on the Cruciatus curse, but no matter, because 7 months had passed. And after all those months, the Aurors found her laughing hysterically above the prone forms of Alice and Frank Longbottom. Rabastan and Rodolphus tried to flee the scene, but she stayed there, tall and proud and oh so unimaginably insane, laughing and taunting the Aurors and leering at them and positively dancing around while they dragged her. Her trial was swift, as she continued just ignoring them all, proud of her deeds and unmovable in her convictions. Her sentence to Azkaban came nearly without a surprise.

It was the first contraction that was like a bucket of cold water on her mind. Her magic had continued maintaining the notice-me-not charm all the way through the processes, even when they publicly smashed her wand in two, it never failed and she had been getting so used too that extra weight that she couldn't see that it just stopped being there for her. But the contractions reminded her of everything, the unsuspected pregnancy, the raids, her Lord, her downfall, but most of all, it brought back the tattered, half-erased totally instinctual givens of an expecting mother. She took in the ratty and mouldy cot on which she was lain, the tattered thin robes she was adorned with, the dark, damp and cold little cell she had been thrown into and the presence, so close and so terrifying of those despicable wraith-like creatures that guarded the most secure prison in Wizarding Britain.

The contractions were still distant from each other and relatively less painful that they could be, so she bade her time, trying to find the most suitable position on that old cot.

Soon enough the contractions were cruelly painful and in unfathomable pain, she tried to put her mind to other thoughts, if only to at least ease it a little and not cry out loud enough to alert any of the guards. But those thoughts were far from light as she couldn't help but think about what would happen to an infant behind the walls of the prison. A prison guarded by fear and despair was not a place to raise a pureblood child but who would be able to help her free the child? She noticed absently that the blood staining her robes and her cot seemed to sparkle almost, like little lights fading in it as it left her body. Would someone be able to help her? Could anyone save her baby?

Her trail of thoughts stopped when a spike of hot, searing pain invaded her loins, fast as a flash of light before a curse and she had to muffle another scream, only for another voice to cover her breathless panting, the sound of a weak cry of life.

Covered in blood and gunk, crying weakly in the midst of her tattered robes, was a tiny being with his eyes screwed shut, sniffling and coughing and alive. Weakened by the act, confused and dazed, Bellatrix looked at the small infant and gathered him in her trembling arms, trying to regain control of herself. Letting her instincts direct her actions, she took hold of the last strand of flesh that linked her to this tiny little thing and bit into it, ignoring the horrid taste of raw flesh and a little something else, she cut through it and separated the umbilical cord. This done, she stood up on unsteady legs and brought the infant to the small bowl of clean water that was put in the corner of the cell and cleaned his face and mouth and nose and body as best as she could, cooing slightly and trying to ignore the images in her head that showed her an unmoving, stiff little body, pressed tightly against her as she rocked back and forth.

"This is not a place for little boys like you, why are you here, Little Unknown?" She whispered to him as she bathed him as best as she could. "A new life in a place that robs it, hm, the suffering will never end…"

She cooed at the baby as it continued moving weakly and scrunching its little nose, his eyes staying stubbornly closed. She cut a length in her robes and rolled it around the tiny body, trying to give it a bit of warmth, even as her mind conjured images of what could happen in the thrice damned walls of Azkaban the prison, Azkaban the place where hopes died. A small infant in a length of tattered robe, held by a silhouette shrouded in black as it leaned its face closer and closer to the tiny face for a despicable kiss. A little body wasting away without proper nutrition, leaving life in a whispered sigh after having experienced it but for a few days.

"It can't be. I can't let it be." She muttered as she went back to sit on her cot, taking no mind of the blood continuing to seep through her thin clothes as she rocked the baby, presenting him a breast to feed. "Please somebody out there. Please help him. Help my baby."

She kept muttering those three sentences as she rocked the newborn, her mind coming up with more and more horrifying outcomes to this small gift of life.

Unbeknownst to her, her prayers flew into the evening sky, reaching for the stars and more precisely for a Mad Man and his Blue Box.


	3. 2. You Are Needed Here

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After Sexy goes back into the T.A.R.D.I.S.'s matrix, the machine yanks the Doctor and co through time and they receive a peculiar note.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> T for the Doctor's crazy.

The Doctor continued reassembling his T.A.R.D.I.S.' commands, trying to ignore the pain in his chest as not so little Amy Pond dragged her Rory away to their newly appointed new room. Which an imperceptible sigh, he stood up from the swing and went back to the control matrix, letting his hand caress the boards as he reached them.

"Are you there? Can you hear me?" He asked in a soft voice, his eyes shifting up to the heart of the T.A.R.D.I.S. and the controls around him, waiting with a baited breath.

When no answer came, he let out a mournful sigh.

"Ah, I'm just a silly old…" He started before catapulting that thought at the back of his mind, putting on an excited smile, as always, as he continued, louder. "Okay! The Eye of Orion or wherever we need to go."

Just as he finished his sentence, starting to fiddle with the control mechanism in front of him, the brake lever shifted by itself and the Time Lord couldn't help the large smile and the warm feeling that filled him. She was still here, his T.A.R.D.I.S., his Sexy, Beautiful Thing, his Home and his Forever Companion. With a laugh and a triumphant yell, he danced around the boards, manning them in a flawless waltz as he sent all his love and warmth to his ship.

The trip was a suspiciously quick one, slightly bumpy but otherwise an unsurprising one. Amy and Rory joined him on the deck only a few minutes after they landed and both were met with an excited smile that seemed to burst with content.

"Now, Ponds! Ready for the Eye of Orion? I hear it's exceptionally warm in this season!" He told them with a grin as he walked to the doors, followed closely by the couple.

"I hope this doesn't end in drama like oh every other trip you've taken us on, Doctor!" Amy said with a slightly strained laugh.

"Nah! Totally drama-free I'm sure… well… I think… Ah who knows! Let's just find out!" The Doctor replied with a slightly crazed smile before opening the doors with relish.

The trio looked out at the scenery outside with both incredulity and amusement.

"Yeah, Doctor… the Eye of Orion looks a lot like a remote cliff in England, doesn't it!" Rory stated with an hesitant look at the Time Lord who seemed slightly bewildered but hid it quickly.

"Ah well, I guess we just have to see for ourselves!" The Gallifreyan retorted before walking out with a spring in his step. "Oh well, look at this! 'Askerian Cliff, Scotland'… uh… I guess we did miss the exit lane by a few light years!"

"Wait, I remember that place! Dad used to tell me horror stories about this cliff back when we lived in Scotland. Anyone who takes a trip on the sea going from around this cliff never returns and when they do they are just shells without a conscience, like in a coma but living, eyes open and everything!" Amy said while looking around the fog-filled place.

"Oh! Well I guess we better investigate that legend then!" The Doctor replied with a maniacal grin before suddenly jumping, as if startled. "How peculiar…"

Amy and Rory looked on with curiosity as he took out the leather card holder in his inner pocket and read his psychic paper, an expression of rare gravity descending on his face before disappearing again in a flash.

"Would you look at that! We seem to have a message!" He told them, handing the psychic paper to Amy.

The girl looked at it, her eyebrows rising when she realized something different was written on it.

'Please somebody out there. Please help him. Help my baby.'

And underneath the message was a string of numbers that she soon recognized as coordinates. When she raised her head again to ask the Doctor what was the meaning of all this, it was to see him practically running back to the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"Doctor! What is it? What are you doing?" She asked, passing the psychic paper to Rory and dragging him back in as well.

"Isn't it obvious Pond? We are going to rescue someone! Come along! Stop dragging your feet Rory, really!" The Time Lord replied as he fluttered around the consoles and tapped the coordinates into the ship's computer.

The trip was again surprisingly short. Only half a minute and they parked on solid ground again without too much of being thrown around for the ride.

Leaving only about another minute for Rory and Amy to regain their wits, the Doctor sprang open the door of his ship.

The immediate consequences were then all the more brutal as Rory gasped and had to lean on the console for support, white as a ghost and Amy let out a cry, sliding on her knees, shaken and tears flowing to her eyes. The Doctor wasn't spared either, he recoiled from the open entrance, looking slightly wilder for a second and an imperceptible shiver running through him.


	4. 3. The Impossible Prison

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What is this place? Why the blaze is it influencing their mood? And why would a child be here? They don't get all the answers, but only more questions.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter rating: M to be cautious, Bellatrix's insanity, Doctor's bewilderment, Pissed off Amy, Lost Rory, the works y'know.

It was with great difficulty, that the Doctor extended his hand and snapped his fingers to snap the doors shut before him. Once the doors closed, the feeling of despair and anguish that had clung to the air like an oily skin abated and the trio was able to breathe once more.

"What the bloody hell was THAT?" Rory asked in a trembling voice as he helped his wife up.

"It's… it's like suddenly every single feeling of happiness and content and anything positive just left me and all I could think about were the bad times… and all that went wrong in my life and…" Amy babbled on, tears still falling from her wide eyes.

The Doctor ignored his two companions and ran to the consoles, verifying the data he had on this location and staring with something akin to shock when nothing came back.

"This is not possible…" He muttered, foraging through the databases to try and find more about where they just landed.

"What is it, Doctor?" Amy asked, looked slightly frightened.

"All the data I could uncover all point to the fact that there is nothing at these coordinates. We should be in the middle of the North Sea, not standing on anything! And the residual energy that is picked up by the T.A.R.D.I.S. doesn't look like any thing alien I've met before… It even has a human tint to it… But that's not possible; Mankind hasn't uncovered the means of cloaking devices and perception filtering yet! We're in 19-bloody-81, this is impossible!" The Gallifreyan man rattled, his eyes fixed on his monitors. "I need to find out more…"

The Time Lord was so intent on his objective that he sort of occulted his companions from his mind, only remembering them when Amy grabbed his arm roughly and forced him to turn around toward them.

"You are NOT going out there on your own! Have you not FELT anything when you opened that blasted door?" She screamed at him, trying to shake some sense into the man.

"Amy! Amelia!" The Doctor tried to calm her down, carding her face between his hands. "The T.A.R.D.I.S. brought us here and there is someone out there that needs our help! Do you remember what you learnt the first time I took you into the stars? On Starship U.K.! Think, what happened?"

"The… There was the Star Whale and Liz 10, you wanted to kill the Star Whale's brain to avoid its suffering but I stopped you…" Amy remembered with a bit of fondness.

"Why did you stop me? Think, Amelia Pond, what did you realize about the Star Whale and I?" The Time Lord continued pushing on, still staring right into her eyes.

"The children… you couldn't stand children crying and the Star Whale couldn't either…" Amy realized, thinking back to the psychic message, realization hitting her suddenly.

"There is a child involved, Amy, I can't let a child in need! And if this is the place where that child is, all the more reason to investigate!" The man said softly, his eyes trailing back to Rory who was looking on with a solemn face.

"Then we're coming with you!" The Scottish girl stated definitively. "You're not doing this alone, this place is creeping me out, I can't let you go alone!"

"Don't you think you should ask Rory what he wants before dragging him with us?"

That half-smile the Doctor gave her was worth all the bad emotions in the world.

"He'll be my stupid face in shiny armour!" Amy retorted with a smirk, making the Time Lord laugh slightly.

Rory's protests were weak and seemed less heartfelt than believable and they soon brassed themselves and pushed opened the T.A.R.D.I.S.' doors again.

Even though they were all prepared, the onslaught on negative emotions still took its toll but the three persevered and stepped out of the ship.

The Doctor immediately switched on his sonic screwdriver, trying to detect the origin of the psychic message. He started walking in the direction indicated by his tool, followed closely by the two humans that were looking around with a definite feeling of unease.

Amy and Rory were following the Doctor, holding hands nearly painfully as they took in the sombre atmosphere, the foggy air despite the wind snapping around them. They appeared to be at the top of a tower and the Doctor was leading them to the closest door, a massive thing of heavy metal battered by the element and rusted to the bone.

Not even a step in, the Time Lord stopped in his tracks, seemingly frozen on the spot.

"Doctor?" Rory asked in a whisper, as Amy nearly broke his fingers while holding his hand.

"This is a jail!... A high security prison!" The Gallifreyan said, looking down at the stairs going down and down into the dark.

"What is a baby doing in a place like this?" Amy gasped shifting closer to her husband with a shiver.

"Well we're here to find out!" The oldest man present replied with solemnity.

They went down what seemed like kilometres of stairs, each turn seemed to plunge them further into darkness, the feeling of misery and despair clinging more and more to them as they descended into what seemed to be levels and levels of dungeons and jail cells, trying to occult the bad memories that the feeling of dread was bringing back and the moans and cries and screams from the cells around them. They didn't have time to spare for the poor souls trapped in here, a child, in this environment was like a crime against all that was good in the Universe.

They went down another few floors, neither Rory nor Amy could tell exactly how many, and then they finally stopped at a level and the Doctor immediately moved to the closest cell.

"Oh… what did they do to you!" The Time Lord murmured as he looked on to the huddled form on the ratty old cot.

"Who are you? Came to laugh at the captives! HA! Let me out and I will have you stringed by your innards on the fountain of the Ministry!" The form declared in a raspy voice, untangling herself, letting them watch as she stood up, shivering but tall and proud.

Amy couldn't help but admit that however insane and bloodthirsty the woman appeared, she was a beautiful one, under the grim and the blood. Long curly black hair that had seen better days, but still seemed to bounce around her face, dark eyes with the snobbish glint of someone who knows they are above anything as plebeian as a greeting, a gaunt body that had been filled with curves and lithe and pale. But the blood, layered in brown and red on her ripped dress was the most attention catching.

The Doctor quickly opened the door, his suspicion rising when the door didn't seem to be even locked. He stepped into the cell and opened his mouth to talk but was interrupted by a shriek of anger and a bedpan thrown in his general direction.


	5. 4. They Will Steal Your Soul

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bellatrix is crazy. The Doctor is bewildered. Amy is confused and Rory just doesn't know anymore (pretty much like me)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter rating : M, best play it safe. Bellatrix is insane and likes to swear. She's Captain Swears-a-lot… *giggle* … hm I might need to sleep for a bit…

The Doctor appeared slightly disgruntled but not too hurt by the attack. He looked on with curiosity as Amy and Rory took the woman by the arms and restrained her quickly and efficiently.

He tried to open his mouth again to speak but was interrupted again, this time by a cold snap of wind that send shivers through his spine as the temperature dropped just low enough that they can see the fog produced by their breaths.

"They're coming!" The restrained woman moaned, trying to shrink into herself while laughing a bit madly and resisting the hold the two other humans had on her, so much that Amy, fed up, gave her a quick goose on the head, making her shut up.

"What is coming?" The Doctor demanded, but realizing he wouldn't get any information from the woman.

He then turned around as he felt the sickness of despair in the pit of his stomach suddenly strengthen and nearly lock him into place, crushed under guilt and anguish.

He let his eyes roam into the hallway of the prison and found the undeniable source. A couple of beings shrouded in long black cloaks were making their way into the hall, going from cell to cell. The pitiful moans and cries quieted suddenly at their passage before continuing seemingly even louder and more intense.

"So these are the jailors…" He muttered under his breath as the two continued their round, not seeming to notice them.

Turning to his companions, he let his eyes take in the two and the third. The woman was bleeding, she needed immediate attention, attention that she'd been lacking for what seem to be at least a week if the brown-ish colour of old spilt blood on her dress was to go by.

"Rory, Amy, we need to go back to the T.A.R.D.I.S., take her with you!" He ordered them, glaring at Amy when she tried to open her mouth to protest.

They started making their way back, the two with the slightly dazed woman in front and the Doctor bringing the rear. He was thanking all the deities that the emotion-feeding jailors hadn't seen them leave, when a high-pitched screech coming from the floor they just left made him rethink his theory and he pressed his companions to run faster.

Strangely enough, the trip back up seemed shorter than when going down the stairs and they soon reached the safety of their beloved blue box.

Just as the Doctor closed the door of the ship, the mad woman seemed to come back to herself, sitting on one of the stairs in front of the console boards, Amy and Rory standing guard behind her. The Doctor looked on as a myriad of emotions fleeted over her face one by one, confusion, bewilderment, fear, realization, fear and then all encompassing anger.

In a movement so swift, her two guards didn't have time to react, she stood up, marched up to the Time Lord and gave him a resounding slap, that could have been seen as a punch for all its strength if it hadn't been given flat-handed.

"YOU BLOODY DIM-WITTED PRAT! WHAT THE HELL DID YOU THINK YOU WERE DOING!" She screamed at him with the fiercest glare before trying to go around him to leave the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"Oy! Where do you think you're going, lady? You need to be patched up! And explain where is the child we're supposed to help?" Amy demanded, marching to the woman, just as angry as her as she gripped her arm and turned her around brusquely.

"YOU LEFT HIM YOU TROLLOP! YOU LEFT HIM TO ROT IN THAT CELL!" The prisoner woman immediately replied, breaking Amy's hold and trying to jump at the girl's throat, only to be stopped by the Doctor. "And don't call me lady like I'm some commoner, you can call me Mad Belle"

"What do you mean, Mad Belle?" He asked her with a feeling of dread as she sneered haughtily at them.

"The Little One was under the cot! I couldn't have him in my arms if anyone were to see him…" Mad Belle started, the wind having seemingly been taken out of her sails.

The Doctor paled slightly and turned to Amy who looked on the verge of tears and Rory who looked slightly sick.

"You two, stay here with her, I'll go fetch him." He said gravely.

"But Doctor… I know this place is creepy but why do you look so stressed? There wasn't anyone in the hallway when we moved out of the cell!" Rory wanted to know.

"You didn't see them? The two creatures, looked a lot like those Wraiths in The Lord of the Rings…" The Time Lord explained with a frown.

"There was noone, just a drop of temperature and the feeling of despair getting worse…" Amy replied with a shake of her head.

"All the more reason why you two should stay inside the T.A.R.D.I.S.! I'll go get the baby and come back as quickly as possible!" The Gallifreyan continued with a nod.

"You're not going anywhere near him without me!" The mad woman snarled at him, glaring hotly at him.

"You're bleeding on my floor!" The Doctor retorted with a glare of his own.

"Tough! I don't care! I can see them too, unlike your two pets, now we have to go back before any of those abominations decide to feed on his soul!" The woman screeched at the man who paled a bit more at her pronouncement.

"They feed on human souls?" He asked in a batted breath.

"It's like the dessert for them of course, they usually just feed on all humans' positive emotions and memory and leave nothing but despair and death... now are we going or WHAT?" The woman replied with a snarl.

Seeing quite clearly that he wouldn't be able to change her mind, the Doctor just nodded and both of them were out the door and back in the descending stairs before either Amy or Rory could protest. From the corner of his eye, the Time Lord could see that the woman was working on the last threads of her adrenaline pump, she looked slightly better than she did before but it still looked like she would crumble down at any moment. They arrived at the right floor, not even in the hallway yet and they could already hear the baby's cries from the cell.

Immediately, both started running to the small chamber where they saw one of those wraith-like creatures, bend down above the cot.

It was like something switched in the mind of the woman, one moment she was just worried and miserable and suddenly she threw herself at the tall figure, sending both of them crashing a little away from the cot, letting the Doctor see the small bundle of damp, ratty clothe that was moving under the cot. Without missing a beat, the Time Lord ran to the mattress and took the baby with him, he was about to put the small bundle on the floor off the side and go back in when the feeling of dread he'd come to associate with those vile creatures seem to come back with a vengeance. He turned around, his arms trying to protect the baby in them as much as possible as he saw 5 more of those soul-sucking creatures gliding toward him.

He started hesitating on what to do next, not wanting to leave the woman behind, when a head full of dark curls masked the approaching creatures from him.

"Go, they won't follow you, it's me they want…" The woman told him calmly.

"What? What do you mean!" The Doctor asked her as she continued staring ahead at the approaching forms.

"I'm a prisoner, I am not allowed to leave my cell, they came to investigate…" She replied curtly.

"I'll … I'll come back to get you out!" The Time Lord said desperately before taking a step back when she started laughing, a cold, seductive, menacing laugh.

"Run along, little man with that thing in your arms, if we catch up to you, we will eat you UP!" The woman sang, turning around slowly, letting him see her eyes.

There were tear-tracks under her eyes, but they'd lost all signs of the care she'd had in them not moments before, all that was left was despair and madness, a large menacing grin playing on her lips, looking almost amused.

Taking another step back, the Gallifreyan was startled when the creatures reached Mad Belle and, putting a decomposing hand on her shoulder, pushed her roughly in her cell, making her cackle madly.

Backtracking, he ran back up, the small body against him held securely in his arms as he practically flied up the stairs, the haunting sound of the woman's laugh following him, soon replaced by her voice, screaming in agony, but he kept on running as fast as he could, as far as he could.


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So they have a baby now. Babies are cool. And the T.A.R.D.I.S. likes Cardiff.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter rating : T. minor coarse language from a dumbstruck Doctor.

The trek back to the T.A.R.D.I.S. was swift and without any further complication. But as soon as the Doctor had landed feet inside his ship, the doors suddenly slammed shut and the T.A.R.D.I.S. started trembling and making that whooshing noise. No need to know rocket sciences to know that the ship was initiating take off without the pilot's consent.

"No! No! NO! Why are you doing this!" The Time Lord asked desperately as he ran to the commands, stopping just long enough to put the baby in Amy's arms before running around the control boards to try and backtrack the ship, even while he had fled the cell, a little hope had persisted in his mind that he'd be able to come back and get that mad woman and maybe fix her.

But the ship had deleted the coordinates of the jail and was now too far in the Time Vortex for the Doctor to be able to pull it back without re-entering them. The Doctor stayed a moment in front of his consoles, his head down and resting on them as he tried to comprehend what all had happened.

He had fled a cell in an impossible prison with an infant and couldn't go back to get its mother and now what was he supposed to do with a baby? Drop him at the first convenient orphanage and wash his hands of him? The T.A.R.D.I.S. always brought him were he was needed, but if the trip on the House had proved something, it was that his Big, Sexy Thing, also had a will of her own. And he was detached enough to realize that she had wanted the baby, not the mother. But why would the ship go to such lengths to procure a baby? What was so special about him?

He was brought out of his musings by a tap on his shoulder and someone shaking his arm frantically. Raising his head, he frowned at the scared look on Amy's face.

"Doctor! There's something wrong with the baby! Noone cut the umbilical cordon! And he's all gooey and covered in soot and dust and grim!" The young woman said, raising her arms, where she'd uncovered the small baby who was seemingly snoozing a bit.

The Time Lord looked down and realized that she was right. Someone (probably Mad Belle) had crudely cut the cordon and wrapped it in some threads of cloth that was left hanging from the baby's belly. You could see the effort made to clean him but the infant was still covered in dry amniotic fluids and other gunk.

Without even thinking about it, the Gallifreyan took the baby in his arms, humming a small Gallifreyan tune as he puttered around, getting a pair of surgical scissors from somewhere before going to the closest bathroom. Once in there, he put the sleeping infant on the warm towel on the flat surface next to the sink and after a bit of preparation, cut the bothering bit of cord, quickly making a tie with what was left of it. He then put the newborn into a basin of tepid water with some stimulant added to it, to help the scaring process, washing him gently.

Halfway through, the bathing, the small babe's eyes fluttered half-open but still too blind to really see.

The Doctor smiled at the baby and finished bathing him before putting some gauze on his navel and then wrapping him in a clean towel. While the process only took about five minutes, the infant was already back to sleep when he finished which led an amused smile on the Time Lord's lips as they went back out of the room.

"So… you know how to take care of babies eh…" Rory voiced as Amy and he watched the Doctor coming back out of the bathroom after having sort of walked out on them without a word, taking the babe with him.

"Everyone knows how to take care of babies, Rory!" The Gallifreyan replied with a smirk. "Now… I need to do some scans on this little fella, while the T.A.R.D.I.S. gets us where she wants to get us. Why don't you two run along, hm?"

"I'd swear I'm hearing my dad!" Amy scoffed at him, crossing her arms and raising her eyebrows at him. "I'm not moving from here, I want to know what's the matter with all this story!"

The Doctor turned to Rory, trying to convey to the man that it'd be excellent if he could go away and drag his better half with him, but apparently the Last Centurion was immune to mental pleas because he just looked back at him blankly, making the Time Lord sigh inside.

"Alright… Rory? Could you hold this little one for a mo?" He asked the man, feeling slightly vindicated and guilty when the other male looked at him with that expression, humans called "of a deer in the headlights"

Rory stuttered for a minute as the older man deposited the babe gently in his arms. But quickly, his instincts resurfaced again and he locked his arms firmly and as gently as possible around the tiny body, trying to balance between not crushing him and not letting him fall, which wasn't as easy as everyone seemed to think! Thankfully, said babe was blissfully unaware of any issue, still sleeping the sleep of the hardy babies. Meanwhile, his lovely wife seemed to be having the time of her life, laughing at him and smirking.

The Doctor chose to ignore his companions' antics and proceeded to do the infant's complete scans. He was changing a few parameters, looked away from the screen for a few seconds when the T.A.R.D.I.S. finally landed in far less mayhem and noise than usual.

"AH! So… We're in… well that's peculiar… we're in Cardiff, mid-2009" He said, more to himself than to his friends.

His attention was on the graphs about the Rift when the 'ping' denoting the translation of the scans results attracted his attention again.

Rory and Amy were squabbling slightly, trying to keep it in hushed tones in case they'd wake the baby up when a loud bang from the consoles made them both look back at the Doctor. The man was sitting on the floor, his eyes fixed on the screen he was sitting under. He looked pale as a ghost and disbelieving. They both startled badly when he jumped up and came straight to Rory, snatching the baby in his arms as swiftly and gently as Gallifreyanly possible. They looked on as he rocked on the balls of his feet, murmuring something against the infant's forehead, as he kissed it softly.

The couple stayed frozen as the man continued walking around the consoles, nearly dancing around, murmuring into the newborn's little ear, what could probably be the secrets of the Universe.

Rory, understanding quickly that this was not something Amy or he should invade on, quickly grabbed his wife and dragged her out, under the pretense of going shopping, not that the Doctor really heard them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N : Just to clarify, in cannon, the Doctor is a JKR fan, I did tweek that timeline but as I try to remain as close to the cannon as possible, he still is. He still hasn't made the link between where he was and Azkaban. Bellatrix introduced herself as Mad Belle and that's what they will call her when talking about her, he would have realized who she was otherwise.


	7. 6. I Dreamt A Bitter Miracle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> What became of Bellatrix Lestrange once that strange little thing left with the Madman.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter rating: M for the twisted mind of one Bellatrix Lestrange.
> 
> A/N: This is more of an interlude than a chapter but yeah. And it's the last time we hear about Bellatrix for a long time, I think.

It was years before the Dementors, stubborn and sadistic as they were, relented their constant pression on her. For the longest time, Bellatrix lost the notion of time and of pretty much everything. And then one day, it quieted down. It wasn't that they left her alone, no, they were always there, at the corner of her eyes, breathing down her neck with their thrice damned mouths and their unholy screeches. But to her it felt like she could think again, like the despair and the hate and the loop of endless darkness wasn't all there was.

Of course, her thoughts were not that bright but she could now think of the little things like the flowers her husband used to give her during their courtship, or the smell of the dew in her mother's gardens.

She didn't know how long it had been since that strange time when she met that impossible wizard and his two pet muggles and they stole her life from her. No, not her life, but something important, something cherished and something hidden.

From her hazy memories, she could remember that it took the human guards another full week before they got around to visit her and realize that she was dying of septicaemia. She was then sent to the prison's rarely used Infirmary and they discovered that she'd given birth. But how could she? She wasn't pregnant when she arrived! Did that Death Eater Whore try to spawn a Heir to her beloved Master? If so, better hope the tyke be a stillborn.

The excitation around that affair endured for another week, the time it took her to be better. Well, relatively better or rather, good enough to go back to starving and going mad in the solitary cells. And after that week, it was like the whole thing never existed. No one investigated, no one wanted to know, not even her, too dazed on potions and groggy with hunger and melancholy. And then it was the waltz of the Dementors, at least 2 a day for so long, they would come into her cage and just lean on her as she laid on her cot, hoping for a quick death rather than that excruciating agony.

And from time to time, she would imagine a little infant boy, covered in gunk and grim, abandoned under her cot as she laid there, singing children's tunes about Beedle the Bard.

And now that the Dementors were relenting, she could remember a bit better, the odd wizard with his cursed muggle dohickey and his blue box. The man who wanted to help her runaway, but instead, he stole it, he stole everything!

And some nights, while she lay awake, straining her ears to listen past the moans and the cries, to hear the sea and the waves crashing on the walls of this Pit of Hell, she wonders if the man in the blue box even existed. If she really gave birth to a tiny little thing, ugly and covered in blood. On those nights, she reflects that it might just be the vagaries of a failing mind. The vagaries of a failing mind, what a nice way to say she was going completely batshit insane. Just a day before, she was discussing the subject with Mother… but no… Mother died by a cursed book in the Black's Library when she was 17. Who was she talking to? Maybe the man with the bowtie, the one who took her little star!... the one she sent away from the soul-wrenching place. The one that got away…

So sometimes she wondered and wondered some more. And sometimes, when the moon is at its highest, that the snarls of the beasts caged below reverberate in the hallways and the wind seem to stand still, she thanks the stars that the man with the blue box took her little unknown and hopes that she will never see him again. Because if she did, she might have to kill him. She is realist enough to know that if that tiny ugly little thing that came out of her ever ended in an orphanage, it will be a muggle one, and how would she recognize her own flesh, when the only company she has is the dead and the unwilling… So she prayed never to cross his path, never to have to chose. Because between a vague recollection of a boy that has a chance to be hers and the Master she swore on her life and magic to serve, the choice was so easy it should be forbidden... Long Live The Dark Lord, after all...


	8. 7. You Are Not Alone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well well well... I'll be damned, here comes CAPTAIN Jack Harkness... And oooh now they know where the baby comes from :D

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter rating: M because a certain Captain has a very very dirty mind XD
> 
> A/N: AT LAST! Torchwood! 8D (and some humour because I simply can't write Jack without humour somewhere XD)

Captain Jack Harkness was not ditching his paperwork, nor was he "napping", no, he was meditating. It always helped him centre himself, meditation. Of course, if his meditation happen to include a very convincing fantasy with Ianto Jones, a bottle of banana daiquiri and a swing, no one had to know!

But anyway, Captain Jack was there, not napping, when the insistent bip of his wrist vortex manipulator brought his sadly to reality, just in time to look totally fresh and appearing to be working, when Gwen Cooper walked in with a frown.

"Jack, it looks like the Rift Movement Detector is acting up. It picked up a trail but it keeps showing the message "He's back"! Is it something important?" She asked him a bit worried.

Jack nearly jumped when he realized exactly who the Rift Detector had, well, detected. He took a look at his Vortex Manipulator, its scan was indicating the same thing.

"It's nothing Gwen, don't worry, just an old friend dropping by! I think I'll go say 'hi'!" Jack replied, putting on his best "I'm cute, let me do what I want" smile, sure, Gwen was more and more immune to it but not completely yet.

He congratulated himself on still "having it" while walking out after reassuring his Welsh friend that there was nothing weird and everything was going to be alright and no, he wasn't going to run away again. But he was forgetting something very important… the Welsh girl wasn't the only one he was working with… and a certain adorable tea-boy calmly joined him as he walked to the SUV.

"Sir, I must ask that you don't go anywhere without me…" The younger man said calmly.

"If you want, Ianto, but it's not that big a deal, just a friend dropping by!" Jack promised, trying his smile again on the man, but this one was already immune to that particular smile, maybe if he broke out the "let met do this and I'll screw you brainless against the closest flat surface… not necessarily horizontal….", it could work?.

"Sir, I must insist…" Ianto continued, his calm behaviour compromised by the odd glint in his eyes, oh, jealousy… this was going to be fun.. NOT.

"All right, but don't read too much on what the Doctor says okay? You've met him, he's… something…" Jack said, unable to find a word to describe the Time Lord.

With another nod, the Welshman and the American got into the car and drove to the coordinates where the Rift Detector had perceived the landing of the T.A.R.D.I.S.

Jack had to blink slightly when he saw a young couple standing in front of the ship, at first glance, the red hair immediately made him think of Donna Noble, but he knew this couldn't be her, he'd kept tabs on all of his old friend's companions and he knew she was living a normal life, her memory wiped clean to save her life. And this girl looked younger (and slimmer) and the boy with her had to be her boyfriend, because it had to be rare to find friends that stood the cheer might of an angry redhead without having been faithfully trained to do so.

Ianto and Jack walked cautiously closer and stopped just far enough not to be immediately spotted, but close enough to hear the end of the conversation.

"No Amy! I really don't think that'd be a good idea!" The boy said with an aggravated sigh.

"Oh and why is that, Rory?" The girl retorted with a strong Scottish accent. "You've seen his face! He bloody well FELL. ON. THE. FLOOR… whatever the news those scans gave him, they were heavy, Rory! I just want to be here for him, he looked so lost!"

"Excuse me? Are you the Doctor's new friends? Jack Harkness and Ianto Jones, old friends of his… what's the matter? Normally the T.A.R.D.I.S. doesn't need a pit stop on the Rift more than once a century or two!" Jack asked, displayed a curious attitude as he tried to hide his smile from the two slightly suspicious companions.

He thought it was kind of cute, seeing the Doctor's newest companion react all puffy and jealous when meeting the older ones.

"Are you really a friend of his?" Amy asked, suspicious as ever.

"Yeah, but you wouldn't have heard too much of me, the Doctor tends not to do well with former flames" Jack replied with a slight wink to the girl, stopping himself from giggling at the shocked and revolted expression on the Scottish's face.

But she quickly came back to the matter at hands and explained succinctly the situation to the two older males. Jack and Ianto traded a look and Ianto nodded as Jack turned back to the couple.

"So, Amy, Rory, right? How about you go to that small café over there with my friend Ianto, I'll go try to make some sense of the situation with the Doctor, okay?" He proposed with a smile.

Amy and Rory exchanged a look of their own and with a bit of hesitation, accepted the offer. Just taking the time to see them go, Jack quickly entered the T.A.R.D.I.S., taking in the new deck theme. He let his eyes roam around and saw quickly the huddled form of the Doctor, standing under the control deck's glass floor and… was he on a swing?... back off hormones, now is really not the time!

Jack walked down to where he could see the Doctor's back swaying on some kind of swing, next to the T.A.R.D.I.S.' heart.

"Doctor? Hello!" He said softly, walking up to the man.

Already from the back, he could see that the man had regenerated again, but his smile turned a bit leering when he was finally able to see him up front.

"Did you realize that every regeneration, you get younger? Do you think next time you'll be a teenager?" Jack asked with a grin.

The Doctor simply smiled weakly at the Immortal before sighing again, his eyes going back down to the bunched up clothe in his hands.

Jack startled badly as he realized his perception mistake. It wasn't some bunched up clothe. It was a tiny BODY enveloped in white clothe! A BABY?

"So who's the happy parent?" The Captain asked hesitantly not really prepared for the mournful and slightly wet puppy dog eyes this new regeneration sent his way.

"Jack… this baby has two hearts and Time Lord regenerative DNA…" The Doctor said in a rough whisper as Jack's eyes widened dramatically. "He's Gallifreyan…"

The 51st century man stared with amazement at the newborn sleeping peacefully in the other man's arms.

"This is unbelievable!" He whispered back, extending his arm to maybe caress the baby's head but aborting the gesture when he saw the Doctor lean in on himself, as if trying to protect the babe. "Do you know what this means, Doctor?"

The Gallifreyan man looked up at his Immortal friend who was smiling his large dashing smile at him.

"Doctor… You are not alone…" The Captain said with a grin that the Doctor couldn't help but share.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> They're both so fluffy XD


	9. 8. I Had Forgotten That Feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor freaks out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter rating:T. Everyone should really stop swearing so much.

The Doctor sat there, on the swing, swaying distractedly as all his focus, all he was, was turned to the small bundled newborn in his arms.

"The rest of the deeper scans still haven't rung back yet, but he IS Gallifreyan… how can a Gallifreyan baby be born on Earth of all places? How am I supposed to care for a Gallifreyan baby? I've already taken care of Gallifreyan babies and they can be a pain, but there was no problem because I had to Nursery, I could just go there and order whatever I might need, right there in the Citadel!" The Time Lord said in a whisper. "But the Nursery is on Gallifrey and Gallifrey is a Time Locked planet! I can't just waltz in to get what I want and where else am I supposed to get everything? I can list at least a dozen of items that I'd need that can't normally be found anywhere other than on Gallifrey…"

"Doctor…" Jack tried to cut him, as soothingly as possible, seeing the Time Lord work himself into a full blown panic attack.

"And I can't take an infant on too many trips on the T.A.R.D.I.S.! She might be the best, but newborns are not made to withstand that type of trips, even Gallifreyan ones! And time travel is only ever allowed for children over the age of 8, for good reasons! Where would I stay? Do you think I could ask Rory and Amy to live with them until the baby is older? I might need money… I never use money! I know I can just confuse a few ATMs but that would be cheating isn't it?" The Doctor continued, looking up at the Captain as he stood and walked away from the swing.

Jack could see that the other man was just this shy from working himself into a frenzy and did the first thing he could think of. The Immortal took the Doctor's face into his hands, mindful of his little burden, and crushed their lips together to stop them from moving so much and maybe even, slow down the Doctor's thoughts for a second or two. When he finally released the Doctor, the man looked marginally better, even if there was still a slightly wild glint in his eyes that Jack had learnt to associate with trouble.

The Immortal started opening his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a loud beeping noise, coming from the control panels. And suddenly, the Doctor was back to his infuriatingly hyper self, only slightly tempered by the fact that he was holding a little baby in his arms, and he sprung to the stairs and ran back up to the consoles. Jack was on his toes, just as curious of what the results would show, as was the Time Lord.

He immediately realized that the results were again another big shock to the Gallifreyan because the man was standing there, paler than ever, alternatively looking at his screen and the baby that showed no signs of being bothered by all the excitation.

Wanting to know what it was that made the Doctor react so dramatically especially after the news that the baby was Gallifreyan, Jack took a look at the results and felt his eyes widen to impossible dimensions.

"What?" He muttered, re-reading them again and again from behind the Doctor's shoulder. "B-but that's not supposed to be possible!"

"Oh, you Big, Sexy Thing, you!" The Doctor murmured in a sigh, one of his hand coming up to caress the panels in front of his with an invisible shiver. "What did you do?"

"Doctor! How can these results be valid!" Jack demanded, putting his hand on the other male's shoulder. "Your DNA and mass amounts of Huonic energy in his blood… That would make the child yours and the T.A.R.D.I.S.' for all biological intents!"

The Doctor shook his head and launched into the tale of the House planet and his T.A.R.D.I.S.' consciousness trapped into a body of flesh and blood, and her regrets and her final words. But even himself, couldn't believe what his ship had done. She'd actually created a life… and he was the dad!

"I haven't been a dad for so long now, Jack, I don't know if I will know what do to about it!" The Doctor continued, turning toward the other man with a bit of panic making its way back on his face. "Oh! But if he's mine, that means he will have to look into the Untempered Schism, it's the only way to understand Time and Space, and he will need to if he's the real child of my Sexy! But the only Untempered Schism is on Gallifrey, I don't want my son to grow up crazy like the Master, but he would need to look into it! I could punch a hole in the fabric of Time and rip apart the Time DeadLock and go to Gallifrey! I could even go to the Nursery then and pick up anything I need from there!"

The slightly deranged giggle he let loose at that moment didn't really reassure Jack on his state of mind.

"Doctor! Doctor calm down!" Jack asked him, soothingly. "Whatever you need to do, we will help you! Rory and Amy will help you, Torchwood will help you, I will help you as best as I can!"

The Time Lord took a big shaky breath before nodding again, his eyes going down to the small babe asleep in his arms. He had to proceed with logic and intent, not simply rush in because of his emotions like some human, this was his son he had to do what was best for him.

"I need a medical opinion on his health, I don't think the T.A.R.D.I.S. missed anything with her scans but I don't want to have doubts. Do you think you could call Martha Jones?" The Doctor asked hesitantly, he'd promised himself when making his goodbye tour for his last regeneration that that part of his life was behind him, but just the fact that he was here in front of Jack Harkness proved the contrary, so why not take it for all it was worth.

"Yes, no problem, I'll need to call her quickly because Mickey and her are leaving for their honeymoon tomorrow…" Jack explained while fishing out his phone. "You concentrate on making a list of the things you will need that can't be proxied with things from Earth, clothes, food, all that I can take care of it, for now…"

The Doctor nodded and started making up his plan. Yes, if he could swing by the Library and the Junk Planet, he would be able to salvage and fiddle with a lot of stuff that would come in handy through the baby's development. There were a few things he'd have to steal, but all in all, he was nearly sure that a lot of the items he liked to think as only available on Gallifrey could be substituted with others from other parts of the Universe.

He was brought out of his musings by a tap on his shoulder and turned around to Jack who was smiling slightly.

"She says she'll be here in about an hour." The Immortal told him.

"All right. Think, what did I miss…" The Time Lord muttered, a frown on his face, he knew he was forgetting something.

A sniffle followed by a loud wail answered his question as a very uncomfortable smell wafted from the tiny infant in his arms as something dampened the sleeve of his tweed jacket.

"Oh… oh no! Jack! I need diapers!" The Doctor exclaimed frantically as he shushed the baby, calming him into whimpers.

Jack couldn't help the laugh that escaped him at he took in the situation. Just at that moment, the T.A.R.D.I.S.' door opened to admit Rory, Amy and Ianto.

"Oy, Doctor! So what's the sitch? What is the matter with the baby, then?" Amy asked loudly, making said baby's whimpers grow into full blown wails again.

The Doctor sighed at this and turned to Jack, looking strangely determined yet a bit hesitant. Jack immediately understood what the Time Lord was trying to say and simply nodded, taking a step toward him with his arms stretched.

The Doctor smiled slightly in relief and put the little baby in the waiting arms.

"The matter is that he needs a medical check up and I need to find supplies to raise a Gallifreyan child of a Time Lord with basic T.A.R.D.I.S. capacities, that's the "sitch" as you said, Pond!" The Doctor finally answered the red-haired girl, turning to her with a triumphant smile, ignoring the two others' shell-shocked expression.

"B-but I thought you said you were the last of your kind!" Amy said, bewildered.

"Well so did I!" The Doctor retorted, before patting lovingly the T.A.R.D.I.S. console in front of him. "But apparently, This One didn't think I should be! So she made me a son and planted him into a human woman… human woman that sent the message we received and that you both met: Mad Belle."

"Oh…" The Scottish girl said weakly. "Okay… so what's the program then?"

It was Jack who answered while walking back to the still open door, humming slightly to try and calm the infant in his arms.

"Now, you and your boys are going to find the supplies the Doctor needs while Ianto and I play babysitter for a few hours…" Jack threw at them over his shoulder as Ianto fell in line slightly behind him, retreating as well.

They reached the other side and the doors of the T.A.R.D.I.S. closed again and it disappeared like it always did, before anyone could get another word hedge-wise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N:Okay I have to admit, if you know it, this part of the fic might remind you a lot of "Time's Child" by Almadynis on TTH, it's because it was one of the inspirations that made me think up my plot. It's not plagiarism… I think?...
> 
> Oh and I tend to use "Time Lord" and "Gallifreyan" alternatively and not. I mean, Time Lords are Gellifreyan but Gallifreyan are not all Time Lords or so I understood, so when I talk about the baby he'll be Gallifreyan, but the Doctor is a Gallifreyan AND a Time Lord…


	10. 9. What Was Missed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor needs to stop being late. It's annoying everyone. And a little heartbreaking.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter rating:T. minor coarse language. Amy is pissed.
> 
> Also, I want to speak baby...

The T.A.R.D.I.S. initiated take off before Amy or Rory could open their mouth but when the ship stabilized again, the young red head turned to the Doctor who was typing away at his computer, seemingly ignoring her.

"How can you leave him like that! He's your baby, Doctor! YOURS! You don't just leave a baby behind like that to go roam around the galaxy! Even if you'll be back before he can realize that!" Amy yelled, following the Doctor as he walked around the consoles, pushing this button and banging on that lever.

The Time Lord ignored her, muttering under his breath about junk planets and intergalactic Salvagation Army.

"DOCTOR! Listen to me! Why did you live the baby with those two men! How do you know you can trust them!" Amy kept on, way too pissed to care when Rory tried to calm her down.

Suddenly, the Gallifreyan turned to her like a whiplash, glaring hotly.

"Don't do this Amelia Pond!" He snapped hotly. "I've lived a long life before I met you, Pond, I don't talk about it but I have! Captain Jack Harkness is a man I would trust with the fate of the Universe! And we will be back before the baby can realize it!"

"But… he's your baby and you've always been so lonely… why did you leave him so soon after getting him!" Amy reproached him a bit weaklier, most of her ire having disappeared as she could clearly see that for all his levity, the Doctor was worked up about this whole affair.

The Time Lord sighed deeply and put his hands on her shoulders, looking straight into her eyes and smiling gently, trying to confer comfort and askance.

"There is a lot that a Gallifreyan child needs to develop that can't be found on Earth… we had to go to get those things…" He explained soothingly. "I am not abandoning my son, Amy, I am doing this so he can grow up to do amazing things!"

Amy gave the man a small smile.

"Just like his dad, then…" She said with a zest of humour.

"Yes! Just like his dad!" The Doctor replied, a big proud smile on his face that soon dissolved into one of amazement and glee. "Oh, Amy! I'm a dad!"

"I know!" The Scottish girl replied with a giggle, embracing her Raggedy Doctor before releasing him with a slightly more serious expression. "So… Where do we go first?"

"In the immediate future, there's a list on the screen there with the things I'm going to need, I trust Rory and you will help me find them?" The Time Lord asked her before turning to the girl's boyfriend.

The Last Centurion was looking slightly out of his depth but there was a glint of determination in his eyes that told Amy that whatever happened with the Doctor and his son, everything would turn out right.

And just like that, they were off again. They made short stops on several planets, in different time streams, the T.A.R.D.I.S. had even prepared a room right next to the control deck that was to be his room. None of them knew when it appeared, they just knew that after the first shopping run, the Doctor had looked at one of his screens and grinning told them to put everything in the room at the bottom of the stairs on the right, a room that hadn't been there before.

What they couldn't buy, they had to steal, but thankfully, it was only the case of a few items and the Doctor took care of those, when she'd asked about it, he told Amy that it was to built a trinket that might save the babe's life one day, before going back to some blueprints he kept of something called a "Chameleon Ark".

After what felt to the couple like nearly a week of running around like some crazy bint on a shopping spree, the Doctor finally decided they had enough for now and entered the coordinates of Cardiff, trusting his ship to take them where they needed to go.

They appeared exactly on the spot they left, but strangely enough, neither Jack nor Ianto was there to greet them.

They'd been standing around the T.A.R.D.I.S. for a full 5 minutes before a SUV pulled up next to the alley they'd appeared in and out came a black haired woman, looking particularly pissed off.

"Oh! You must be Gwen! I think I remember you!" The Doctor said jovially with a large smile as she approached them, seemingly unaware or uncaring of the thundercloud hovering over the woman's head.

Whatever reaction the Time Lord had aimed for, it certainly wasn't the resounding slap on the face he received for the effort.

"OW! You're not a mum! Why did you slap me? Are you a mum? Are you Amy's mum? I thought your mother was older than that the last time I saw her, Amy!" The Doctor babbled, bewildered, turning to his companion who looked as shocked as he felt.

"Shut your gobe and follow me, we're taking my car!" The woman retorted with a glare, in a very strong Welsh accent.

So they took the car and drove. The 3 minutes drive must have been the most tense and heavy one either Amy or Rory had ever taken. The Doctor was sulking in the front seat, every attempt he made, at opening the conversation being shot down with a glare.

Then they arrived at what the woman (was it Gwen or did the Doctor do his thing where he thought he knew someone but in fact he knew her ancestor/descendent thing?) called the Hub and went down into what seemed to be an underground facility.

Their arrival was welcomed by loud wails coming from one of the offices, actually, the office where the Welsh lady was leading them.

Rory seemed to get nearly immediately what had happened, the moment they passed the door and restrained Amy when she tried to go up to the Doctor who'd froze in the middle of the room.

Rory shook his head when his wife sent him a curious look and indicated with a nod the couple standing on the other side of the room.

Amy looked on and her eyes widened when she saw Captain Jack Harkness, sitting at the head of the office, looking slightly grim while Ianto, was standing behind him, looking kind of nice without his jacket, and holding a baby in his arms that he was trying to calm down. A baby that looked to be, at least, a month or two old.

"Doctor… the next time you go on a shopping spree like that… how about you answer your damn phone when we call you?" Jack said with fake levity, while glaring at the other man.

"I… the phone was smashed when I defeated the Master, I just never got around to repair it…" The Doctor replied with a wince. "How long…?"

"You missed it by a month and a day…" Jack replied evenly. "I know from Rose that it's not the first time this happens but please, next time, do try and get back in time, yes?"

"I will, I'm so, so sorry, Jack!" The Doctor replied with a nod, looking slightly hesitant. "Can I hold him?"

Jack looked back at Ianto who was now openly glaring at the Time Lord before sighing and walking to him, holding up the baby for the Gallifreyan to take.

The Doctor took the baby with precaution and hummed slightly.

"I'm so sorry, boyo, I never meant to be gone for so long…" He muttered against the baby boy's forehead at he kissed it.

"Ianto, I think our new guests would like a cuppa if you would? Gwen, come with me I have some readings to show you…" Jack finally said, surprising the Doctor's companions by firmly leading them out of the room with a muttered "let's give those two a little privacy, ok?"

The Doctor stayed in the office, swaying on his feet as he hold the baby whose large blue eyes were fixed on his face (or maybe on the bang on his face?).

"You're not Teaboy…" The baby said almost accusingly.

"No I'm not, babe, I am your daddy…" He replied with the ghost of a smile.

"Where is Teaboy? He makes an awesome milk thing!" The baby continued, his eyes still fixed on his face.

"I'm sure he does, but I can make a mean one too, you know!" The Time Lord said with amusement.

"Then make me a milk thing and I'll be the judge! That's a good name, Judge, I want to be called The Awesome Judge of Awesomeness!" The babe continued with a slight giggle.

That declaration brought a full blown grin to the Doctor's face as he nuzzled the baby's cheek, breathing in that peculiar smell all babies shared.

"What do you say we ditch everyone and go for a walk, Awesome Judge?" The Gallifreyan asked the baby with another smile.

"Only if you give me the milk thing first! I want it! And I pooped so I guess you'll have to do the poop cleaning thing too!" The baby replied.

The Doctor sighed with fake regret.

"Well that is one thing I wasn't looking forward to, but I guess yes I can do that…" He replied to the baby as he headed for the door.

The toddler continued his running commentary on about everything as the Doctor joined Ianto with Amy and Rory to ask for the diaper supplies and such. He had the strange sensation that Amy was cross at him for some reason but just shrugged it off and went on his way. He was met in Ianto's office-turned-kiddy-nursery by Jack.

"So what are you going to do now?" Jack asked him after a period of silence while he watched the Doctor change the dirty nappy while talking quietly to the baby.

"I think it'd be best if we stayed Earth-side for a few, that way I'll be able to make some modifications to the T.A.R.D.I.S.' matrix to enable me to take him with me." The Doctor explained as he wiped his hands and took the baby back into one arm, before starting to heat up a nursing bottle full of formula, with what seemed to Jack like great ease.

"No problem, you can park her down here next to the suites, that way you'll be able to work on her and won't have to stay in all the time" Jack proposed.

"Oh not a bad idea, yes!" The Doctor nodded with an easy smile.

"Is that the Perv? I like the Perv, he always sings to me! I want the Perv to sing!" The baby demanded from the Doctor's arms, making him laugh loudly.


	11. 10. In A Name

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor needs to give his son a name, seriously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter rating: F for fluffy lol. Nah, T to be on the safe side.
> 
> A/N:I admit… everything else in the story is a filler to arrive at chapters like this one X3

The Doctor, Amy and Rory had been loitering around Torchwood and Cardiff for 3 days now, trying to stay out of the team's way while helping anywhere they could. The Rift activity wasn't too bad from what Gwen admitted to Amy, it was not too quiet, but nothing extremely dangerous had crossed it either.

The Doctor could often be found tinkering around in his ship, parked in the hallway near the suites, entertaining a running conversation with his son for whom Ianto and Jack had bought a movable cradle that the Doctor used to keep him next to him while he worked.

Amy and Rory spent some time visiting Cardiff, seeing the sights or locking themselves up in their room in the T.A.R.D.I.S. for extended periods of time, when they were not being bossed around by the Time Lord who seemed to take a lot of pleasure in thrusting the baby at them and asking them to babysit for an hour or two at a time (but never more, the 1 month-long absence had really taken its toll on the man).

It was one of those afternoons, that Jack came into the T.A.R.D.I.S., looking for the Doctor. He found him swaying under the consoles deck, with his son on his lap, held securely against him, humming softly to him.

"Hey, Doctor! I have a question I've been wanting to ask you…" He said, approaching a bit hesitantly.

"Yes, sure!" The Time Lord replied, a bit distractedly before looking down at the small form against him. "I already told you his name was Jack, stop calling him The Perv! It's really not a good name for… well anyone really!"

Jack held back a slight wince at that, Ianto had been both horrified and highly amused, the first time the Doctor had told them what the baby had been calling them for the last month.

"Yes about that, Doctor, Ianto and I…" Jack started before trailing off slightly. "Well, you know you were gone for a month and we had to babysit and a month is a long time (when you don't own a time travelling machine that is) and we couldn't just keep calling him 'baby' or 'boy'…"

"What are you trying to say, Jack?" The Gallifreyan asked, with a slight frown.

"We had to call him something, you know, and we couldn't get a hold of you, so after a few days, we started using this name that I liked and well he isn't old enough to really realize we're talking about him, but we needed a name and it sort of stuck…" Jack replied a bit fast.

"What did you call him?" The man in the bowtie enquired, looking both uneasy and infinitely sad.

"Evan… we took to calling him Evan…" The Immortal said in a rush.

The Doctor nodded and looked down at the baby in his arms.

"So they called you Evan? Do you like that, Evan?" He asked him gently.

Jack looked on, fascinated, just like every time the Doctor did something that was supposed to be impossible, while the other man cocked his head to the side, apparently listening to the baby's reply amidst his quiet gurgling.

"Ivan The Terrible? No I don't think that would be appropriate!" The Doctor continue his apparent monologue with a slight chuckle. "Then we'll have to work out something, won't we, Awesome Judge!"

And suddenly, Jack had the very uneasy feeling that if this ever went pear-shaped, it'd all be his fault… somehow!

The Doctor left the swing, waltzing slightly as he sauntered up the stairs and around the console with the baby still safe in his arms.

Jack followed behind him, curious of what they would possibly do next, as they waltzed out of the T.A.R.D.I.S.' doors and into the hallway.

"You look mighty chipper, Doctor!" Amy remarked as she watched the Time Lord strutting past her, having what looked on the outside like a one-sided conversation (but she'd learnt in the last few days that he "spoke baby" yeah her Raggedy Doctor had a few screws loose but it wouldn't even surprise her if he really did!).

"Hm, well we are on Earth and your birth mother is human, so I guess we could give you a human name, yes?" The Gallifreyan said with levity, completely ignoring his companion, yet again.

"What is it, this time?" Rory asked Jack with an aggravated sigh, restraining his wife with an arm as she looked ready to kick the man in the bowtie for ignoring her, before settling back, pouting a little.

"I told him we had to name the baby while he was with us and chose 'Evan' but apparently, Ev… I mean, his son, doesn't approve of the name, so now he's searching for another one…" Jack replied with a sigh of his own, Ianto had been the one to chose the name, even if he chose that one because Jack liked it, it had still been his choice, and he'd grown very fond of the baby, the separation since the Doctor came back, had hit him hard.

"Oh, Doctor, you could call him Vincent!" Amy proposed suddenly with a radiant smile.

The man seemed to consider for a moment before turning back to his son, seemingly asking his opinion before shaking his head with an easy grin.

"He still prefers Awesome Judge of Awesomeness at the moment!" Was his simple answer.

And just like that, the torrent of helpful, amusing and sometimes downright weird suggestions started. First only by Amy and Jack and then little by little, shedding their last dredges of hesitations, Rory, Ianto and Gwen started proposing names as well. Everything from "John" and "Jack" to "Alfredo" and "Miguel" going through "Delilah Bell" and "Moon Unit" was suggested and after two days of actually listening and weighing the names to himself, the Time Lord had enough of it. Starting to feel a bit peeved by how everyone seemed to want to "help" him when all he wanted was to make up for the month of his son's life he'd missed, he did the next best thing and locked himself and his son in the T.A.R.D.I.S.

The man gave a loud sigh as he closed the door single-handedly before walking to the chair next to the consoles on the deck, where he sat with the baby boy on his lap.

"So it's just us two and our Sexy, then, boyo!" He said in a soft voice, planting a kiss on the infant's head.

"You will need to do the poop cleaning thing again, soon" His son replied, blowing him a raspberry.

"Ah, no fear, I still know how to do that. But first, you, your mum and I have to have a serious discussion!" The Doctor retorted, sending a probe into his ship's telepathic fields, receiving an wave of warmth and homeliness in return. "We need to find you a name…"

Saying this, he sent to the T.A.R.D.I.S. the memories he had of all the names that everyone had proposed, starting with the very first one : Evan.

"What do you think about Evan? It is a good strong name, comes from the Welsh for John or Jack, you know, I use the name John Smith all the time, it wouldn't be so bad…" The Time Lord rambled happily, just has he could feel the T.A.R.D.I.S. eternal presence at the back of his head, feeling the warmth grow with fondness, apparently the ship liked that name too.

"Evan sounds nice, I like Evan, but you can continue to call me Awesome Judge too, right?" The newly-minted Evan asked.

"Of course, I can, my awesome Judge. And you know, that will be the name that everyone will you, but us Time Lord, we have private names most of the time, we cling to it and don't give it to anyone that didn't already know. I have one too…" The Gallifreyan explained quietly.

"So your name is not Daddy?Is it what the Perv and Teaboy call you? What is it… 'Doctor', right?" Evan the baby, asked, frowning at his father's face, as he raised his hand to try and grasp his nose, but the man nudged his podgy hand and blew a raspberry on it, making the baby giggling quietly.

"No, Doctor is my public name for everyone, I am your father, so my name to you is 'Daddy', but I have another name, one I keep secret…" The Doctor explained patiently.

"This naming thing is way too complicated, you grown ups and your complications! Well I'm Judge of Awesomeness! I demand that you uncomplicated it!" The infant demanded with a short wail.

"Well, to simplify, my T.A.R.D.I.S. and I are going to give you another name, but this one, you might not remember for a long time, until then, your name will be Evan, son of the Doctor…" The man smiled lovingly at the baby who was scrunching up his face in confusion.

"Then I am Evan, The Awesome Judge! That sounds good! And what is that other name you want for me, then?" He asked with a slight yawn, all this talking and thinking had taken its toll on his youthful mind.

The Doctor smiled down at his delicate and oh so perfect little boy and, leaning down against him, murmured a few word at his ear. Just moments after that, the boy was sleeping peacefully against his father as the man walked out the T.A.R.D.I.S. with a large joyous smile.

He found Jack and Rory, leaning against a wall near the ship, Amy having seemingly lost patience and walked away with a message for him saying that when he was ready to talk, she'd be in the break room.

"So, have you decided on a name then?" Jack asked, happy to see his friend smiling back at him so joyously.

"Well, it'd seem that Judge likes Evan after all!" The Time Lord replied, resulting in chuckles from both men. "So Rory, Jack! Say hello to Evan, only I have to call him Awesome Judge of Awesomeness, or Awesome Judge, for short!"

Rory shook his head, not even trying to comprehend the utter madness that was the Doctor sometimes, but leaned toward the little baby who was sleeping peacefully in his father's arms.

"Well hello there, Evan, welcome to the family, I guess…" He murmured gently, caressing the baby's cheek with a finger.


	12. 11. Time is Never Still

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> More fluff with the Doctor and Evan. And then some not so fluffy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know Evan might seem a little too aware and energetic for a 2 months-old baby, god knows those I've known I'd taken to call the "shit-machine" for obvious reasons, but bear in mind that he's more than half-Time Lord, and I guess they're just so awesome that their brain develop quicker than human and all… not believable? Ah hell, artistic license and all! Right? XD

Their time in Cardiff was not all Rory thought it'd be, although in retrospect, he wasn't even sure what he'd been thinking exactly.

Jack had been kind enough to lend them his credit cards, giving them a secret smile when Amy asked how much they could spend while shopping for Evan and themselves. After having been explained the man's real story, Rory would bet he'd had a lot of stock options and other means that made him filthy rich, he was a Time Traveller from a distant future for god's sake! In his place, the younger man would have collected as much data as he could to make easy money, as ruthless as that might sound!

They'd been living in the quarters of Torchwood for over a month now, had even foiled a small invasion plan from some kind of octopus-like alien who wanted to invade and lay eggs in every available human body, to serve as bearers for its young. Very disturbing business, considering, said young were not meant to be brought to adulthood but to as a delicacy for overly too rich aliens of yet another planet.

It had thoroughly disgusted everyone of them, even the Doctor had looked mildly angered by the whole business and took to fussing over Evan even more when he was not teaching the baby some lessons on quantum physics (the baby was 2 months-old for christ's sake! How was he supposed to learn all that?... although considering that the Time Lord could apparently communicate intelligibly with his son, it might not be that much of a stretch).

They were actually having a down day, the Rift wasn't showing much activity, Gwen and Jack had gone retcon two infortunate blighters that had witnessed a Weevil arrival, Ianto was fluttering around the headquarter, straightening piles of files and stopping every so often to look at the computers screens, the Doctor and Evan were in Ianto's office which was still the half-time nursery it'd been when they'd arrive, a month ago and Amy and Rory were both… otherwise occupied… when a blaring alarm broke the monotony, ringing loud and clear all through the building, even down to the sleeping quarters.

The Doctor was frowning in frustration, he'd been trying to reproduce the basic settings of his own Chameleon Ark with parts he'd picked up here and there, but so far, it'd been without much luck. He had brought from the T.A.R.D.I.S. most of the things he'd picked up to be able to work on it while keeping an eye on Evan who was batting away at the star mobile over his cradle, in an intense conversation about being a tease and stopping this nonsense of always moving. His concentration was such that the alarm startled him badly and immediately throwing down the doohickey he'd been fiddling with, proceeding to pick up his baby boy who looked unhappy with the sound and complained quite loudly.

He'd reached the door when he was joined by Amy and Rory, looking slightly out of breath, both had visibly ran from their room up to the office.

Amy was visibly about to ask what the hell was going on when a series of gun shots rang in the distance and Evan was put into her arms.

"Amy! Take Evan down to the T.A.R.D.I.S. and lock yourself in with him!" The Doctor ordered quickly before running in the other direction toward the control room where the gunshots had apparently come from.

"Wait, Doctor! I'm coming with you!" Rory quickly called after the Doctor as he prepared to turn around a corner, before planting one last kiss on his wife's head and following after the Time Lord.

Amy took a second to hesitate before looking down at the baby who was wailing a little, looking very uncomfortable with the sound blaring around them. The decision from there was easy to take and she ran as carefully as she could, down hallways and stairs to sigh in relief when she came in sight of a certain blue box.

She was briefly reminded of the stint with House and that the T.A.R.D.I.S. was in some way a sentient being, when the door opened before she'd even touched the handle and she burst through, not paying attention when it closed back behind her, completely muting the sound of the alarm from the other side.

Evan was still wailing loudly and she started swaying around, humming slightly to try and appease him.

"Ssh, little man, your Daddy is fixing all this, it's nothing to worry about! And Uncle Rory is with him, he'll take care of Daddy if he gets too crazy…" She murmured into his ear, not sure if she was trying to convince him or herself.

It felt to her like it was hours, before the door of the Police box opened again of the relieving sight of her husband and her best friend. Both immediately swarmed her as they checked that both the baby and her were safe, and she let them, as she looked at them, searching for any sign of injuries, the Doctor's vest looked a bit singed and a bruise was developing on Rory's cheek but they both looked alright.

Once contented, the Time Lord picked his son from her arms before chuckling slightly as he cocked his head slightly in a way she'd come to associate with Evan talking to him.

"Ah don't worry, your old man still has some fire in him!" The Doctor told the baby, rocking him slightly before giving the couple a smile. "And good ole' Rory isn't too bad, either!"

Jack was standing at the door with his arm around Ianto and Gwen. This one had been a close call, some entity had somehow been attracted by the energy that the T.A.R.D.I.S. was filtering from the Rift and had come to investigate and steal but had been met with extreme prejudice by a certain "Teaboy" and had lashed out. Half the control room was in shamble, the Doctor had managed to somehow deal with the critter with one of the doohickeys he was playing around with in Ianto's office (which now looked like a bomb had gone off in it…) but even with nearly no injuries, they'd all feel it in the morning.

Two hours later, while Amy, Rory and Ianto were trying to salvage what could be from the main room, Jack tracked down the Doctor and his son who'd disappeared again shortly after the start of the "Operation recuperation" (Amy's idea to brighten the mood, fell a bit flat too).

He found them both standing in what had been just this morning the Welshman's office, the Doctor looked both grim and weirdly accepting with whatever thoughts he was having as he looked around the office a bit blankly.

"Hey, Doctor? Is there something wrong?" Jack asked, entering the room with caution.

"All of it was in here, Jack… everything I'd found to help me control Evan's outbursts in power, or nearly so… it's all broken, half of all this I can't repair!" The Time Lord replied with a slightly helpless look on his face as he sort of clang to the baby in his arms as if willing him not to disappear.

Jack held back a wince at that, he had a very good idea of what would be the next thing out of his old friend's mouth.

"You're going to go again, aren't you?" He sighed, with a slightly ruthless look at the other man.

The man in the bowtie looked back at him, without a word, before leaning down his head to nuzzle his son's bald head.

The Immortal wanted to scream, to rage against the Doctor, to order him to stay, not to abandon his child again like that, but he bit back any remarks and just walked over to him and pulled him in an awkward hug, mindful of the small baby between them.

"It's gonna be all right…" He finally said while releasing the other man. "As long as you take a phone with you this time, it's going to be just fine… But no more than a week, yes? You go running around the Universe longer than that and I'll bring Rose back from the other dimension, just so she can kick your silly butt!"

The Doctor gave his friend a slightly shaky smile, looking like he was on the verge of tears, before simply nodding and turning his back to him, head down against his baby's body again.

Jack sighed again and fished his phone from his coat. Tapping on the Doctor's shoulder, he waited until the man had turned around and showed him wordlessly the phone before putting it in the other man's vest's inner pocket.

"And don't you dare letting it go to voicemail, you hear me, you Time Lord!" Jack growled with a weak glare.

His friend gave him another crooked smile before sighing.

"I just know Amy is going to have my head…" The Gallifreyan said, looking a bit moody. "As if I plan those things, really!"

Jack shook his head, if leaving more than a century had taught him something it was that in hindsight everything had reasons, good or not. He knew that even though his heart told him that what the Doctor was about to do was wrong, that he shouldn't leave like that again, with no sure-fire that he would be back when needed; his head told him that his reasons were good and understandable. Evan was undeniably special, everything in him was and he would need all the help he could get, and if things were not done properly, it could prove dangerous for the babe and anyone around him. The Doctor had lost too much, someone like him, having a chance to raise a child, one of his own flesh and blood, he would do anything to protect him, even if it meant having to leave him behind sometimes.

"I'll go fetch Amy and Rory but you're on your own to explain it to Amy!" Jack finally said, breaking the silence between them, before turning around and leaving the room.

Better let the Doctor cling to his son and reassure himself that he was not a bad father, in quiet privacy.


	13. 12. Like A Painted Target

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Of course something had to happen. This wouldn't be the Doctor's life if it didn't. Nor would it be the Torchwood team's life. Come to think of it, maybe it was time to think of retiring.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know that according to cannon, the following events for the next few chapters are way out, because Children of the Earth happened during the 10th timeline, but bear with me, it's, somewhat, explainable… I think?... and in all honesty, I just can't let Ianto die, it's just unfathomable to me!
> 
> The dialogues and scenes are approximate as I don't remember everything spot on and do not have enough internet access to re-watch or download the episodes. Please be indulgent?

2 days. 48 hours. A shitload of minutes. That was the time that had passed since the Doctor had last walked off to his Time Machine, after a thorough tongue-lashing from Amy and very painfully leaving Evan in Ianto's arms, looking both determined and indubitably grim.

And it was like someone had flipped a 'safe' switch somewhere in the Universe and the Earth was back to having a big ole target with its centre on the U.K. Something was wrong with the children, all over the world. All the children old enough to speak had all been pulled into some kind of mind control and become the spokesperson for some mysterious entity that was claiming their return.

Jack, Ianto, Gwen and baby Evan, who just couldn't be left in just any hands (order from, in order, the Doctor, Amy and Ianto), were sitting around in a park, watching the children from afar.

"We would need a child to better understand what's happening…" Jack said pensively, picking up Evan from Ianto's arms, looking down at the baby with a rueful smile. "You can't tell us anything, can you, Evan? Uncle Jack would really like to speak baby right now…"

The baby just gurgled back at him, with a slight, toothless smile. Jack sighed and shook his head before turning his attention back to his team. Ianto was looking as cool and collected as usual and Gwen looked slightly concerned.

The Immortal smiled reassuringly at his friends, as he picked up the baby's diaper bag.

"I have something to do, you two, go home, get some rest, I'll see you tomorrow at the Hub…" He said with a nod to both before heading off, Evan in his arms.

Even though he hadn't visited in months, if not years now, the way to Lucy's house was still etched clearly at the back of his mind and Jack soon found himself standing outside her door, waiting for her to answer. He couldn't help but feel slightly foolish, in his billowing WWII coat, a diaper bag on the shoulder and the little one safely snoozing against him, having fallen asleep on the way there.

Lucy opened the door to him and he recognized easily the mixed feelings showing on her face as if she'd spoken them out loud, wry joy and suspicious hostility.

She let him in with a slight smile.

"It's been some time since you last came around to see us…" The woman said with a hint of rebuttal and scorn in her voice.

"Lucy, you know you were the one that told me never to come back… I would have come every other week if not every other day if you'd have let me…" Jack replied gently, knowing from experience just how volatile the younger woman could be, even with her placid exterior.

His daughter opened her mouth to retort but was interrupted by her son barging in and embracing his grandfather with a joyous call of "Uncle Jack!". The captain laughed a little as he patted the boy on the top of his head, having pulled the baby in his arms a little higher to avoid collision with the little boy.

"He's getting handsomer every time I see him!" The man stated, smiling crookedly as he observed his grandson running outdoors to play in the garden. "How is Tom?"

"Okay. He's in Spain at the moment. Sends Stephen a letter every now and then, pays alimony and fills a bank account for Stephen, regularly." He dark haired woman replied with a wry smile of her own. "As far as fathers go, I guess Stephen got lucky…"

"You know you can come to me for anything… Money, toys, anything!" Jack told her as he rocked the baby in his arms.

"I think what you give us is already is much more than I could hope for." His daughter replied with a snort, before looking at him inquisitively. "You haven't aged at all… I understand now why mum was always so angry with you… And you wonder why I had to tell Stephen that you were my brother rather than my father..."

Jack's easy smile gradually slipped from his face. He'd known when he came here that this would have been a hard conversation but he'd still hoped for smoother.

"Why are you really here, Jack?" The woman asked with a sigh.

"Did it happened to Stephen?" Jack asked softly.

"Yes, he was in school when it happened but every parent was alerted and we had to pick them up." Lucy replied.

Jack hmm-ed softly, trying to find the right way to bring his question up that wouldn't send his estranged daughter into a fit of anger.

"So, how are things in Torchwood?" The younger woman asked, breaking the slightly uneasy silence that had fallen on them.

"As usual… but I'm not here about that…I just wanted to drop by and see how you were doing." Jack lied with a slight smile. "And I thought maybe Stephen and I could go for a ice-cream or something…"

"So all the children on Earth react to some alien and suddenly you want to spend time with your grandson? Give me another! You're not taking Stephen, Jack, Mom was right! She was always right! You're dangerous! To yourself and to anyone around you!" His daughter told him in a soft yet steeled tone.

Jack sighed again, he'd known since the start that she would not agree, but still he'd had to try, for the sake of the planet.

"And whose baby is that? Don't tell me you fell in love again!" Lucy's tone was biting and tinged with scorn, making Jack wince slightly with a hurt he knew all too well.

The woman must have noticed something in his expression, because her traits soften and she apologized in a murmur.

"An old friend left him with me for the time being, while he has other matters to see to…" Jack explained, as informative and vague as he could make it. "and I have to ask you a favour…"

"What else would you want?" She asked in return.

"I'll be on my way after I ask you one thing…" Jack retorted, looking down at the baby sleeping in his arms and then at the woman standing before him. "I want you to keep Evan with you, at the moment, it would be safer than having him at Torchwood with me…"

Lucy looked back at him with surprise.

"You can't just hand me over your friend's baby!" She protested weakly just as he put him in her arms.

"He will probably have my head for this… twice." The Immortal replied with a wry smile, landing a gentle kiss on the babe's forehead. "But with how things are developing, it's the only way he'll be in security until we find out more. The don might change later on, but for now, having him here with you, anonymous, is better than having him with me, in danger."

His daughter glared thinly at it before looking down at the baby, a soft smile making its way on her face.

"How old is he?" She asked her estranged father, softly.

The man smiled at the picture of his Lucy with a baby in her arms, it reminded him painfully of times long gone.

"Going on 3 months soon." He replied quietly. "He's not a fussy baby but never, ever give him aspirin or any form of paracetamol, he's deadly allergic to them. If he cries too much, just read to him, he likes physics and astronomy books."

"You know, I've actually raised another boy before, I think I can handle this…" Lucy retorted with amusement. "Any other medical conditions I should know of?"

Jack debated with himself, unsure if he should reveal any more about Evan, but decided that it was for the best. Lucy had heard stories of the Doctor while growing up, she knew what he did for the sake of the Earth and how dangerous he could be. She'd understand the utmost importance of keeping his child safe.

"He's… Evan the Doctor's son… He is not completely human…" He finally said, staring at her and waiting for her reaction.

Lucy had grown up, the daughter of 2 Torchwood employees, one being a misplaced 51st century con-man, she'd learn very early how to regulate her emotions and her expressions, but he still could see as clear as day, when the astonishment and slight disbelief etched themselves onto her face, quickly followed by a calculative gaze and finally a blank look, wiped of all expression.

"So he's an alien baby…" She asked, blankly.

"And then some… but I can't…" Jack started before trailing off with a wince, making Lucy roll her eyes.

"You can't tell me anything more, fair enough. From what I know of your Doctor, I think I can hope that he won't suddenly decide to crawl away or try to eat us?" She posed, succinctly.

"No, if Evan does anything alien, it'll be in the range of broadcasting his emotions and wants to you while you're touching him. His father and he are from a touch telepathic race." Jack explained calmly.

He still remember the first time he'd felt emotions coming from Evan, he was singing for him, about a week before the Doctor reappeared and suddenly as the baby wrapped his tiny fist around one of his fingers, he felt this strange mix of confused contentment and foggy sleepiness, it had taken him near an hour to realize that it had been the infant.

"And how long is Evan going to stay here? Jack, if I remember correctly what you told me about the Doctor, leaving his baby son with someone he doesn't know might not be your best idea!" Lucy stated with the beginning of a frown.

"As long as he's not safe with me and the Doctor is not here." Jack replied grimly.

The rest of the conversation was stilted and uneasy, soon enough, Jack was leaving, after having dropped Evan's diaper and toys bag on the kitchen counter. He drove back to the Hub, already missing the quiet presence of the baby around, and he just knew a certain Welshman was going to rain fire on him for this stunt, but something told him it was best this way.

The next morning came quickly and the 51st century man left the headquarters on a call from their newest source in Cardiff General, that young doctor that had seem interested in learning more about Torchwood, and that they'd been considering for recruitment.

Replacing Owen and Toshiko was essentially unimaginable for all 3 survivors of the team, but they still needed someone with medical training and someone with extensive informatics skills, even if the two late agents and friends would always have a place in the other three's hearts.

And then he was shot from behind in the morgue of the hospital and went back to the Hub, with even more questions and no answers.

Jack had often been accused of being mysterious, dangerous and even once, omniscient. But as he watched his lover being taken up by the elevator, knowing there was only a slim chance he'd be spared by the explosion, he couldn't help but smile a bitter smile. Even an immortality like his would be put to the test with this last strike of fate. Being strapped with a bomb would be tedious any day, but knowing someone actually went to the extent of putting that bomb inside his body was just insidious and plain evil, for they would have known he'd have been back to the Hub by the time it detonated and thus would take his HQ and his friends in the blast. He could only pray the Doctor would find his son back and Ianto and Gwen be safe.

Those were his last thoughts before suddenly, everything was darkness


	14. 13. A Change In Pace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's a race against the clock Earth-side, while in a galaxy far far away, the Doctor finds trouble... again...

Lucy couldn't say that the presence of Evan was all that bothering. Stephen had accepted quite readily to play babysitter for his uncle Jack with her, and the baby really was one of the quietest she'd seen. He hadn't kicked up of a fuss the whole night and had drunk his formula readily in the morning. If she hadn't, out of pure curiosity, leaned her head against his small torso and listened to the double, fast heartbeat in his chest, she would have never imagined him being anything but another cute kid.

But he'd started crying again, some time in the late afternoon, seemingly out of the blue and she'd sat in the kitchen with the baby in her arms, singing gently to try and calm him. Her own son was entertaining himself outside, kicking around a football ball. And suddenly, out of nowhere, she felt this strange feeling of sadness and overpowering confusion and longing. It took her a moment to regroup herself and she looked down at the baby who was looking back at her with a tiny frown and his cheeks puffy and red with tears.

"I guess you miss your daddy, then…" She muttered softly, rocking the baby delicately. "We need something to occupy our minds, the both of us! How about some good old idiot box time, hm?"

Smiling gently at the still frowning baby, she stood up and switched on the TV. It took her no more than a minute to recognize the place depicted in the evening news. It was the Torchwood Hub in Cardiff. And it was in rumbles…

The Doctor hummed to himself as he looked around the Xenophysics town of the Library, near Quantum physics city and Physics metropolis. Amy and Rory were somewhere further inside the town, searching for any referencing books even alluding to Time Lord's sciences. They had arrived about 5 hours prior, the Doctor taking a great care not to appear in the city he'd appeared with Donna that other time around, and went back as far as 200 years before that time. He was searching for any information that could help him re-design a new Chameleon Ark. The one he'd started to fashion in Cardiff had been a godsend. It had been an half-way destroyed one and he had only had to repair it a bit and modify its settings. But now that that one was in pieces, he'd have to actually built one from scratches and with his newborn son's life somewhat hanging in the balance, he would do it by the book and possibly refresh his memories for more security. He was visiting his 4th building of the day when an angry voice behind him startled him slightly.

"YOU!"

Turning around, he came face to face with an old-ish Chula alien, who, by his cloak, was probably a warrior or a mechanic.

"Oh hello there!" He said with a slight smile.

He couldn't help but reminisce that one time all those decades ago, when he'd come across the Chula vessel, with Rose and Jack. Crushing the pang in his chest with the ease of practice, he continued smiling at the other male who was clicking his antennas threateningly at him.

"YOU STOLE MY TOOTHBRUSH!" The alien screamed, taking a step toward him.

The Gallifreyan's eyes widened at the accusation. Chula religion revolved around the completion of rites. After each rite the induced developed a new row of teeth, and were given a new toothbrush. They were so serious about their oral hygiene that it was honestly a bit amusing to the Time Lord. But for one of them to accuse him of steeling his toothbrush… it was one of the highest offences on Chula, next to forgetting to mouthwash.

"Err… I do think you're mistaken here…" The Doctor replied quickly, taking a swift step back from the alien.

"NO! IT'S YOU! YOU STOLE IT! NOW PREPARE TO DIE!" The Chulla roared back at him before lunging forward.

Anticipating his move, the man in the bow-tie dodged and ran as fast as he could, bellowing at the top of his lungs his two companions' names.

He was in the town's main street when the couple came out, looking bewildered, just a few doors ahead from him.

"QUICK! The T.A.R.D.I.S.! We have to go!" He practically screamed as he ran past them.

The two humans looked at each other then at the large form of the alien that was running after the Doctor and immediately ran after their friend who'd disappeared around the corner where he'd parked the ship.

A few galaxies away, a few centuries in the past, Ianto Jones laid on a hill, watching with nearly physical pain as gallons of cement were dropped inside a cell, he knew damn well was that of one Captain Jack Harkness. It had been 4 days since the explosion of the Hub and he'd been forced into hiding by whoever was targeting Torchwood.

The last few days had been a nerve-wracking whirlwind of running and hiding, while he tracked the convoy that had taken the remains of his lover. He tried very hard not to let his thoughts stray from his mission, ignoring the gnawing worry for Gwen, but of course, occulting thoughts of Gwen and her newly-discovered pregnancy pushed him to think of Evan. The baby had wormed his way into the Welshman's heart in just a few hours, those months ago when the Doctor had pulled his first disappearing act, and hadn't budged one bit ever since.

When Jack had appeared that morning with no baby, Ianto had been all set to rip him to shreds, even when the Immortal assured him that the babe was in good hands, and safer than they were for the duration of the investigation. But that was back when the Torchwood team wasn't being hunted like animals to be executed, and Jack still there to retrieve him at any given time. Now Jack was suffering alone in a cell while Ianto hid and planned and only God knew where Gwen was, the short phone call he gave her wasn't enough to prove that she was even still alive now. Wherever the Captain had hidden Evan, the Welshman hoped fiercely that he would be well protected.

In a quiet suburb of Kensington, Lucy was walking around her bedroom, rocking little Evan. The baby had been distressed and prone to crying jags for the last few days now. The woman was starting to feel the strain of trying to calm him down and wondered silently how she could have imagined that alien babies were any different from human ones. Obviously, they were just as fussy.

She sighed at her own thoughts, knowing full well that her slight frustration was more caused by worry that anything else. Jack hadn't picked up any of her calls since the news of the explosion and she couldn't help but feel that everything was connected, especially with the children making having another one of their trance-like fits. It wasn't at all helped by the fact that Evan seemed to have lost any resemblance of control on his telepathic gift. She'd taken to wear long sleeved clothes while holding him, just to be able to shield herself a little from the amalgam of fear, confusion and anger, emanating regularly from the babe. It didn't stop the broadcasting completely, but it left it muffled enough that she didn't have too much trouble distinguishing his feelings from hers.

After what felt like an hour of pacing, humming softly to the baby, the little one finally nodded off and she was able to put him in the middle of her bedding, heaving a sigh of relief. Taking care not to make too much noise, she put a baby-walkie next to the bed and went down to the kitchen to fix some snack for Stephen who would be coming back from school soon. She'd go ask for some passerby's phone and call the Cardiff police to ask about Jack later, hoping against all odds that either Jack or that mysterious Doctor of his, would reappear soon.

It had all gone so quickly, Ianto had immediately put his plan into action when he realized who exactly were the two would-be morticians that entered what he'd dubbed the "Evil Lair". He'd busted the wall of the cell where Jack was detained with a forklift and they'd all ran from the armed men that were trying to gun them down. And soon, he was dropping the case of cement that encased the body of his lover, hoping to high heavens that the insufferable man would pull back from the dead yet again.

The Welshman could not really explain the feeling of relieved joy that erupted in him when they drove down the fall and found Captain Jack Harkness in all his naked glory, dusting off cement from his hair and face with his patented grin on his face. He had to stay in retreat while Gwen and Rhys greeted the man, fully aware that if he gave in now, he'd snog the man senseless and probably take advantage of his nudity, friends presence be damned.

"What are we doing now?" Gwen asked from her place at the front, looking at the newly-delivered man on the backseat.

"First some clothes, then I have to get Evan. Something like this, it's getting too dangerous to leave him away from us. If the people that were tailing us have done it for some time, I bet they know he exists. We haven't really kept his presence on the down low while the Doctor was away…" Jack explained grimly.

Gwen started opening her mouth to protest. They couldn't bring in a wee baby into this situation. It would be too dangerous. But at the same time, Jack's argument was solid. If whoever wanted Torchwood dead had done their work, they'd know that Ianto and Jack were carrying a baby around a lot, in these last few months and what best way to get to the man that through their children? Sure, Evan wasn't actually theirs, but she'd seen the two others with him, they had become a sort of surrogate family over the course of that month when the Doctor disappeared the first time, even when he was back, when the baby wasn't with him, he was almost always surely with Ianto or Jack. And if, by some horrible turn of fate, he did fall into those people's hand, the fact that he wasn't at all human, would put another threat to his life.

So they drove off and Jack (after changing into a tracking suit, to his great despair) left them with coordinates where to meet him back, after he'd gone to get the baby back.

Jack drove as fast as he could while staying inconspicuous. He was running the situation into his mind, wondering how he could spin this all to receive the less damage possible from Lucy. He knew that the woman would be pissed off as soon as he got there and she might not react as calmly as Gwen (which had actually surprised him, he didn't think she'd take it that easily) especially because he was endangering a child, but there was no other solution to this. If he left Evan with her there was always a possibility that Evan, Lucy and Stephen got snatched by whoever was behind this, either by them following the lead on Evan or discovering that Lucy was his daughter.

Either way, it'd be catastrophic, and he didn't know if he'd be able to stop the Doctor from committing a genocide if even a hair of his son's head was singed.

From what he'd seen in the last month or so, this new version of the man was slightly more mellow and fun-loving than even the previous one. But the previous one had appeared just as funny and childish until they had face the Daleks and the Master and he'd gotten a taste of the man's darkness. He would have to call him back as soon as he got hold of a phone, this was developing to be a more than serious threat and the Time Lord would not thank him for not informing him.

When he arrived at his daughter's house, his decision had been reached and he went around to stand under the next floor's window.

Jack climbed up as swiftly and silently as possible and had to hide a triumphant grin when he realized he'd climbed into Lucy's bedroom and a certain baby Gallifreyan was sleeping peacefully on the bed. Looking around, he snatched a notepad and penned a quick note to his daughter; apologizing for getting in without her notice and saying he had to go into hiding with the babe and demanding that she went underground as well, as soon as possible. That done, he hefted the baby in his arms, smiling softly when Evan scrunched his nose and nuzzled his t-shirt, grabbed the baby-bag where he'd thrown everything he could find that was Evan's and creeped back downstairs.

He could hear Lucy talking to Stephen from the kitchen but made it out of the door unnoticed. Once out on the street, he went back to the stolen car, acting as natural as he could, thanking all deities that he'd chosen a car with a booster seat at back.

He put Evan in the seat, the baby looking blissfully unaware of any mishap as he continued sleeping, and drove off to the rendezvous point.

This really was shaping up to be an utter shitstorm.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please… about the toothbrush thing… it's 3 in the morning, be kind…


	15. 14. The Choices We Make

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor needs to save Amy, Ianto is worried, Jack is confronted by a past he'd rather forget. Another day at the office.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter rating: T, and a happy unbirthday to you :D
> 
> Spoilers: If you don't know Torchwood: Children of the Earth, you might not get some of the stuff in here. As I said before, I don't have a perfect recall of everything in the series so some facts might be switched or even wrong. Just point them out and I'll iron it out a bit.

The Torchwood team found the location of the abandoned Torchwood warehouse quickly enough and they all settle inside, trying to come up with a plan.

Ianto had been feeling restless and more than stressed since the start of this whole debacle and even the renewed presence of both Jack and their little Evan wouldn't soothe his bristled feathers. But it did make him think about his own family again. Taking the first opportunity, he called Johnny and Rihannon's neighbour to keep them from worrying and demanding that they keep their kids in, whatever happened.

And then Gwen came up with the idea of using all the tricks she's learnt from being a police officer, to gather some quick cash and whatever else they might need. The idea was brilliant and with all four adults lending a hand, they could easily do it all while staying under the radars, at least for a couple of days.

The next few days are a hectic storm of car jacking, pick pocketing and all around a lot of business that Ianto thought he'd never have to face when he started working as a "civil servant". Although, he had to admit that, the fake-waiter ruse to pull credit-card scams, was just genius.

They'd even enrolled little Evan's help in one of their scams. Gwen and he would be near a park, standing next to some business man with a laptop, she's do the cross-eyed trick that always made him cry very loudly, distracting the guy while Jack came around the back and snatched his case and ran.

In the end, they rounded up enough money and equipment to get back in the game and start plotting once more, while Ianto made the supply runs with baby Evan, who seemed quite intent on not letting the man leave his sight for some reason.

They'd returned together, with changes of clothes for everyone (Ianto having to actually stop himself from snogging the daylight out of Jack when the man smiled his beautiful smile at him for bringing him another coat) and enough food to last a few days.

The fact that the Torchwood network was still up was a blessing when it came to their information gathering, so was the fact that Lois Habiba, from John Frobisher's office, was willing to deal with them.

Their talk with the woman and the information they could get thanks to it were enough lead to keep them going on, they could only hope that she would make up her mind and put on the camera/contact lenses Gwen gave her and could become their eyes in the Thames House. But even with that, it had been a cold wake-up call though, when they realized that the government was behind the assassination attempts on them. But they still needed to know why. And so they searched some more. They knew Clem just had to have something to do with this whole mess, the fact that he was the only adult that was able to "tap in" to the weird transmission that had every child on the planet being used as transmitters, just couldn't be a coincidence.

That Jack just up and left when they finally found some information on Clem's past, like the orphanage he came from and the other people assassinated during the "Blank Page Operation", really did not help their researches, but just made them more determined to find out more about it all.

Throughout the whole two days that it took to get to that point, when Gwen was able to retrieve Clem from the police station, Evan had been strangely quiet. Oh, he still cried a little from time to time when he felt that noone was paying attention to him, and he still was as demanding as ever during feeding times, but even without him broadcasting his discontent and childish dread, Ianto could feel that the baby was scared about something. But with the emotions running high around "Hub 2" as Rhys had renamed their hangar, it was to be expected that a baby would feel the stress around him and react, especially one from a telepathic race, like Evan. So Ianto thought nothing of it, even if he tried to spare the baby as much of his time as he could, while continuing to work on the matter of Clem's history.

Jack for his part was torn. He'd got it. He knew what this was all about. It was them. They were back and they wanted more. In light of this new information, he had to talk to Frobisher and make him see reason. If the 456 hadn't held their part of the bargain all those years ago, why would they do that now? And how many innocent lives would be sacrificed now? How many children?

So he'd snuck into the man's house and took his phone, grimly intent on both scaring him into listening and making an example. But the man had been stubborn and wouldn't listen to him. And he knew him too well too. He knew that Jack wouldn't do it, wouldn't touch innocent people. He'd changed in 30 years, he had friends to protect, a lover to return to, he wasn't as ruthless as he'd once been. As dead inside. And the official had struck his coup de grace with the announcement that he had Lucy and Stephen. The last remnants of his family, and they were in the hands of the people that the Immortal was trying to stop.

Feeling himself falling in a downward spiral of guilt and self-disgust, Jack tried to call the Doctor. If there was a moment when the man should definitely be coming back, it would be this one. But yet again, the Time Lord's phone kept ringing until it went to voicemail. And the hole in the pit of Jack's stomach just kept getting bigger.

Light-years from there, completely unaware of the predicaments of the Earthlings, the Doctor was running out of patience. Their forcefully shortened trip to the Library had reminded him of a problem that he had to take care of. The problem of his little Amelia Pond.

So, telling himself that he was just making a quick stop before swinging back to Earth and to his son, he'd gone to the 23rd century and that converted Abbey where the acid for the Flesh was produced.

Of course, like with nearly every one of his misadventures, things were not supposed to go this wrong. But now it had gone wrong. Now he had another him and little Amelia was giving him the evil eye and everyone else was working themselves in a right frenzy. It made him thankful that he'd left his son away from this mayhem, safe with Jack. He'd have to call them soon to check on them, which reminded him that he'd forgotten his phone in the T.A.R.D.I.S., again. Hopefully, Jack would only give him an earful and be done with that. It really wasn't his fault. Okay that was a lie, he'd just sort of occulted most things that wasn't dealing with Amelia's situation, from his mind for a moment and that had included the phone Jack had given him. He would feel very bad about this later, for the moment, the best he could do, was refrain the Humans and Flesh from killing each other and hope his little boy wasn't driving his babysitters crazy.

Back on Earth, Ianto was rocking a wailing Evan, standing in retreat and watching warily while Clem and Gwen confronted a very grim and sad looking Jack.

Ianto couldn't help but deny, even to himself, what was happening. Sure, their relationship was young, just shy past the budding part, filled with frenzied sex and quiet after-sex talks. They hadn't done very much else, and Evan's sudden appearance 3 months ago hadn't helped that. And sure, he'd known about his Immortality. He knew that Jack would still be there, long after he was gone. But to realize, with dread for what was to come and horror about what was passed, that his lover had a past so far from the man he'd grown to love. It hurt like hell.

Because it showed him that he might not actually know this man, for all the smiles, for all the tenderness sometimes. And even if he'd always known that Jack had a rough edge to him. He'd never thought much about it. But here was the living proof of this ruthlessness. Clem… just a little boy, running away and scared. Just a little boy led to slaughter by a beautiful man with a dashing grin and billowing greatcoat. A little boy led to slaughter by Jack Harkness.


	16. 15. A Change In Pace

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Doctor is in trouble. The Torchwood team is in trouble. What to do what to do... oh and Jack dies... again....

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers: If you don't know Torchwood: Children of the Earth, you might not get some of the stuff in here. As I said before, I don't have a perfect recall of everything in the series so some facts might be switched or even wrong. Just point them out and I'll iron it out a bit.

Ianto listened distantly as Jack explained his side of Clem's story. The baby in his arms was keening softly, apparently sensing the dramatic shift of mood around him.  
The Welshman turned away, occulting everything else and went to prepare some milk to feed Evan, humming to him under his breath.

Then suddenly, the explosive noise of a gunshot rang behind him, making him jump slightly before crouching down. His grip on Evan tightened as he tried to cover his fmall, fragile body with his bulk.

Evan was wailing loudly now and Ianto had to take several quick, calming breaths before allowing himself to move. The infant's touch-telepathy had kicked in again and he had the hardest time dissociating Evan's mixed pain/fear/stress, from his own.

Turning around after what felt to him like hours, his heart sank when he saw Jack's inert body lying on the dirty ground, a red stain on his chest.

He immediately ran to his lover's side, carefully handling the little Gallifrean who was still wailing in distress.

The Welshman couldn't help feeling torn. He wanted nothing more than to take the infuriating American in his arms and cling to him until he revived, but with Evan still crying, there was nothing he could do but hold the small baby and try to calm him.

So he just knelt there, waiting with a baited breath. Even if he knew Jack would revived eventually, each one of his deaths (particularly the ones he'd witnessed) felt to him like a stab to the heart. Because for all Jack's brashness, his secrecy and his certitudes, something might go wrong this time and he might not stand back up after that one.

Even with the explosion and how he'd come back from just pieces of him, Ianto still feared the worse, especially with how casually Jack always treated his deaths.

So he stayed kneeling next to his lover's corpse, paying no mind to Gwen as she negotiated with Clem, soothing him into giving up the gun.

And then Jack Harkness, Immortal extraordinaire, pain in his bloody arse and maybe even love of his fucked up life, took an explosive breath, coming back from wherever he went when he died. Ianto couldn't help it, he justed smiled a bit brokenly, down at Jack, one hand on his renewedly beating heart, the other still keeping Evan safe against him.

Thus, Jack was back on his feet, taking Evan from Ianto, as the baby kept wailing and crying. The man was trying to calm him down, knowing instinctively that it was his presence the baby needed right then.

But they kept on talking for another hour, Clem keeping very clear from the Immortal as they discussed the possibilities, the ends and the means of this whole mess.

Evan seemed to calm down as he nuzzled keenly against the slightly bloodied shirt, held securely in Jack's arms. And for a moment, Ianto couldn't suppress the surge of love that coursed through him, like everytime he saw Jack's behaviour when he had the child in his arms.

The quietly tensed discussion was broken when a beep from one of their appropriated laptops rang. It signalled an update on the camera/contact lenses status. Alice had put on the lenses.

Ianto and Gwen immediately went to work. After a few encouraging words, they followed her path in the Thames House with baited breaths.

Evan had finally quieted down, nearly as if aware that the best thing to do at the moment was, not to bother the adults.

There was a proverbial bump on the road, when they realized that they could'nt ge the lip-reading program to work on something they couldn't see. And the poisonous fog inside the glass compartment obstructed any chance at seeing the 456. Lois came up with a solution when she started transcribing the alien's answers in stheno, with Ianto delivering the translation to his teammates.

It left them all palling in horror when they finally grasped the enormity of the situation. The children were an easy-fix, a drug for the 456 and they were demanding more of them. So many of them.

Clem was starting to act up again. They could all see that the old man was getting more and more upset as the situation was clarifying. Then suddenly, the tone of the negotiations changed, the aliens became frantic, talking about removing the "defective one". It was glaringly obvious that they were refering to Clem, especially with how the old man started rocking on himself and screaming, his head in his hands. It took a mere few minutes before the man stopped thrashing, stopped moving, stopped breathing and just stopped living altogether. Gwen held on brokenly to him, ignoring the blood still dripping from his face.

Jack for his part was trying not to let himself fall into a whirlwind of self-flagelation and distress. He couldn't do much to change his own past, but he was a changed man now, not the one he was all those years ago. And maybe, just for this once, he would stop avoiding his past, if only long enough to try and save the world in the process.

The baby in his arms reminded the Immortal of his presence by a short keening noise and Jack had to repress a flinch. Even with the constant reminder in the form of his honorary nephew, thoughts of the Doctor sometimes evaded him. He'd been getting so used to relay only on his team and on his Torchwood, that relaying on the Doctor (for all his brilliant mind and nearly magical affinity to save the day) sometimes took a backseat on the rest. But as the negotiations in the Thames House were adjourned, Jack quietly asked Ianto to try and contact the Time Lord (who had seemed quite fond of the Welshman in the time he'd mooched around in Torchwood, so maybe he wouldn't get the brunt of the alien's anger). Sure he had the hopes that this situation could be resolved without the help of the Doctor, even 'till now; but he knew enough to know that the Gallifreyan would find a way to kill him permanently if Jack didn't alert him, that there was a threat to his only child's life.

Ianto for his part couldn't help but feel like he was waiting for the blade to fall, as he listened intently to the dialling tone of his stolen phone.

Even then, the overwhelming sense of relieve that sped through him when a quiet "Hello" finally rang, was staggering. But then reality crashed down on him as he listened to the Docto's next words.

"Hello? Is this Jack? Of course it's Jack, he's the only one who has the number. Does that mean I've been gone too long again?" The alien asked quietly, dread seeping in his voice.

"Only a few days." Ianto replied, automatically. "And it's Ianto, Ianto Jones. Jack's… teammate."

And by God, it had only been a week and a half since the first announce by the 456.

"Oh! Good, good! I hoped I didn't miss too much!" The Time Lord continued as loud noises could be heard around him, sending Ianto in high alert.

"Doctor? Is everything all right?" He just had to ask.

"Ah… it will be, Ianto, it will… as soon as Rory and I get Amy and her baby back, everything will be okay!"

"What do you mean?" Even as he asked, Ianto couldn't help but feel himself fearing the answer.

"Oh, long story, really. No need to dread, just – I realized that the Amy we've been around was a clone, linked to the real one's mind, because the real one was kidnapped and replaced and pregnant and this one wasn't and now Amy has gone into labour and Rory and I, plus a few friends, are going to storm the castle as you so aptly say and get them both back! Oh the baby could meet Evan when we get back! Wouldn't that be amazing!"

Ianto opened his mouth. He wanted to scream at the Doctor to come back and help them. To order the man to stop gallivanting around the galaxy, playing knight in shiny armour. But the memory of the young woman with the fiery red hair and a stubborn streak that could outdo even Owen's, stalled his words.

With difficulty, he finally spoke through his suddenly tight throat.

"Of course, sir, that would be nice. You should probably go back to it then." He finally said in a rough voice.

"Yes! Yes! I should be back by, hm, tomorrow for you, I think!" The Time Lord quipped.

"Yes, sir. Be quick and be safe, then. Evan is in good hands."

Each word felt like a punch in the gut, but the Welshman couldn't ask the Doctor to chose between his best friend and his family, that was just too cruel.

And that was it. A few seconds later, the Torchwood 3 employee was left listening to the dial tone again.

He knew the Doctor well enough by then, to know that the alien was certainly not going to thank him for his subterfuge. He was probably going to ripe the results of his decision for a long time. But he couldn't bring himself to regret it either.

A renewed feeling of determination surged in him as he glanced back at Jack and Evan. The little boy was going to be fine. Evan was going to get out of this without a single strand of his inexistent hair ruffled. And in ten years time, they would look back at the events of these last few days and be amused by how utterly panicked they'd been over this. Yes, there was no other issue possible.

Galaxies away, the Doctor was maneuvering the T.A.R.D.I.S. to fly them to Dorium Maldavar, while Rory, in full Centurion glory, looked on with a grim expression.

"Doctor, was it Torchwood? Everything okay?" The Last Roman asked him, hesitant.

"What? Oh yes. It was Ianto checking up on us. Apparently, a few days have passed since we left and they were getting worried." The Time Lord replied, not looking up from his task.

Rory felt anguish and torn. He wanted to reassure the Doctor and tell him that maybe, they could swing by Earth quickly, so he could spend some time with Evan before going back to their quest for Amy and the baby (oh my god! They had a baby!). But another, louder, part of him was screaming at him to shut up, because they had to find Amy and their child. And they had to make sure the both of them were all right, and that as soon as possible. Evenmore, they had to find the captoprs and destroy them, utterly. He'd waited too long, lived too many outrageous things with Amy and her Raggedy Doctor, for it to have meant nothing, and to end in such a encompassing heartache. He would not let this happen again! She was never supposed to be away from him, again.

He started opening his mouth, reluctantly, but was cut off by the sudden jerk of the T.A.R.D.I.S.

"We are getting her back, Rory." The Time Lord said, before he could recover his bearings.

"I know, Doctor." Came the slightly hollow reply from the other man.

"Everything is going to be okay, Rory. We get her and the baby back, then we go to Earth after justanother day as passed for them and we present your child to Evan and hope they don't plan to take over the world." The alien continued, sounding confident.

But even as usually oblivious as he was, Rory could clearly hear the underlying darkness in his voice, and see it in his profiled face.

Nodding, more to himself than the Doctor, Rory took a deep breath, cleansing his mind from any thought not concerning Amy's retrieval. They still had a long way to go before they could return to Earth, but he'd make damn sure that they did. All of them.

Light years from there, even millenias in the past, the Torchwood team, plus Rhys, were listening in abject trepidation as the leaders of the powerful counties of Earth started bargaining with the lives of millions of innocent children.

Evan was again unnervingly quiet, but the adults couldn't tear their eyes from their screens as the protocols were decided, that would scarify a third of the planet's children to their fate.

Then the steel came back in Jack's eyes and Gwen, though pale, looked back with resolve, Ianto with fury and an equal dose of determination and Rhys appeared both angry beyond belief and a bit lost. And they started to plan, like only their team did. Knowing the consequences of their acts and desperate to save humanity from its own folly.

Their plan, ingenious plan, desperate, was set into motion quickly. Habiba became their mouthpiece in the Thames House, as Jack and Ianto prepared to leave after Rhys and Evan.

Jack was giving the little baby to the other Welshman, when the infant started crying. Jack tried to soothe him, shushing him quietly, but the baby wouldn't stop. And they didn't have time for this atall. He finally quieted down, nearly instantly, when Ianto took him from Rhys' arms, and started up again when he moved to place him back into the other man's arms.

"We really don't have time for this! Ianto, stay with Rhys and Evan, you'll be our fall-back with them. You both stay together and guard Evan. I'm going in, alone." Jack finally stated, frustrated and angry.

And then he was off, waiting to be a block away from the warehouse before calling Frobisher. But then he called Ianto's sister, Rihannon. As a first impression, this was really not how he'd planned to ever get in touch with his new in-laws. Rihannon took time (nearly too much) to convince, but soon, he had her promise to get away from their houses as soon as possible.

And then came the Thames House. The run up the stairs to that last floor, was oddly uneventful. And soon, he was in the room, facing those abominations. When he realized what the 456 had done to the ventilation and security systems, and that the glass was impervious to bullets, a part of him couldn't help but be bitter. He should have known better. He'd been on the wrong side of the fence, long ago, if he hadn't changed so much and buried so much of himself, maybe he would have realized the double-crossing before it could happen. As it was, the poisonous gazes made his head go light. Too soon after, it was just darkness again.


	17. 16. Uh oh...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So there's those aliens right? Well they sort of want to kidnap a third of the global children population. And Jack is both heroic, heart-breaking and stressed. The Doctor saves the day. And he's pissed as hell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Jacks dies... again...

The Doctor couldn't help the thrill that ran through his spin when River sent him her easy smile as she stood next to the wooden cot. All this time, the answer had been right in front of his eyes! Then again, even by his standards, this whole story was beyond mad and impossible. Yet here she stood, another child of the TARDIS in the flesh. It all made so much sense and yet so little.  
He couldn't suppress the squeaky giggle either when she confirmed it all again. He'd been on and off snogging Melody bloody Pond. His Amelia Pond's little girl. It felt so wrong and yet so genuinely right, he couldn't wipe the silly grin off his face.

Turning around with an enormous smile, he sauntered back to his Sexy, giving his friends their last orders, ignoring (with the ease of practice, really) Amy's loud objections.

He turned one last time to look at River who was looking at him in obvious amusement and giggled a little again before closing the door of his ship.

The Time Lord skipped happily to the controls and with a last small chuckle, entered the coordinates to seek directly Jack Harkness. The thought was somewhat a little sobering.

Sometimes, the Time Lord's ability to multitask was both a blessing and a curse. The whole time while searching for Amy and baby Melody (the only water in the forest is the River! Bless her! Even while dying, his Sexy still tried to help him out! How stupid of him not to have actually LISTENED to her for once!) his mind had been filled with different scenario of how things had been going on Earthside with Jack and Evan.

And even if he was often seen as an eternal optimistic, as time rushed for him and they had to resort to more and more violence to find the trail left by the Silence, the scenarios he envisioned became more and more apocalyptic with him going back to find Jack in pieces and his son gone.

But that one phone call (had it really been only two days ago?) from Ianto had settled most of his fretting and just made him more determined to finish with this whole affair as quickly and thoroughly as possible.

But now here he was, in the middle of the Time Vortex that would lead him to Jack and of course, his son. The preliminary scans placed the man in the middle of a warehouse so maybe not with Evan then, but he could always get the man and set sail for Evan's location with him. For once, he actually felt like coming in unnoticed. As much as he loved hearing his beloved ship in landing, some niggling at the back of his head made him put the brakes off on this one.

The scene he walked on when he strode out made him freeze momentarily. He immediately catalogued the computers and the lines of codes they were showing. But also, the different people standing around, mostly military or slightly mad scientist type, and the little child being led in while a woman was screaming from behind soundproof doors, tears of despair on her face. He saw Jack starting to enter an algorithm he deciphered easily, into the computer and immediately unfroze.

"What the bloody hell doing think you're doing?" He snapped angrily, stalking in long strides up to the immortal, all amusement vanished.

"Doctor!"

He ignored the relief in Jack's voice when the captain turned sharply to him. Finally reaching the man, he whipped out his faithful screwdriver and "sonic-ed" the console all the while ranting angrily at Jack, who just stood there with a wince.

"Of all the absolutely stupidly MORONIC ideas you've ever had, Jack, I think this one is the absolute worse! And I'm counting the released nanotech and the zombie people in the middle of an air-raid in that! Why in all blazing hell did you even attempt to do this without proper preparations and a plan that would, oh i don't know, maybe NOT USE A SODDING CHILD AS CATALYST? oh don't even bother answering that! I don't want to hear it and there is nothing you could ever say to even begin to explain what you were THINKING! Now I had to go and make do with that awful contraption of yours and the only modification I could make on such a short notice, was to change the imprint needed to accept an adult mature brainwave instead of a child's. Now Jack just go in the middle and get your brain fried And come back so I can yell at you some more later."

Jack gave a slight wince at his friend's ruthlessness but the Time Lord just stared back at him with a hard, unforgiving expression on his face.

The end result was somehow anticlimactic. Jack dropped dead after about five minutes of convulsions and the woman that seemed in charge of the military type people reported the all-clear from the Thames House, whatever that meant about the situation.  
It took him about half an hour and he'd been moved to a quiet area by then, when Jack took a renewed gasping breath and jerked up.  
When he was finally aware of his surrounding, he realized that he was not as alone as he'd first thought. Lucy was standing slightly in retreat yet close to his gurney and was looking at him with red-rimmed eyes and a harsh glint in them, that he'd seen before in her mother's.

"Mom was always right about you! You kill everything around you" the woman said in a low, broken voice. "You were going to do it! If your bloody Doctor hadn't arrived when he did. You would have sacrificed him. Your own grandson. MY CHILD!"

Jack opened his mouth to try and defend himself but he knew that nothing he could say would repair his relationship with his only daughter. He was going to sacrifice his own kin for the sake of a world that he sometimes wondered the worth of. He kept the deep hollow feeling in his heart from showing on his face as she continued reaping into him, ending with an order never to seek them again and to stay away from them forever, including any children her son may ever have.  
He stayed sat there for a long time, letting a lone tear of self-hatred and bitterness falling from his eye in the privacy of the empty room.  
And just as he was finally getting his feeling into order, the door opened with a loud clang, letting in a still very furious looking Doctor.

"Grab your clothes. We are leaving." The Time Lord simply said, sending him a blank look that Jack hated on any face of his brilliant friend.

Knowing better than to argue, Jack did as he was told.


End file.
